Why Chiefs could cut Super Bowl Touchdown making receiver and create $12 million in cap space

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As we inch closer to free agency, general managers across the NFL will do everything possible to free up some cap space to make a big signing.

That could mean extending a contract or bringing over a big fish on the free agent market.

For Brett Veach and the Kansas City Chiefs, that probably means finding ways to keep your key players in the fold for 2024.

As things stand right now, the Chiefs are approximately $15 million under the cap, according to Arrowhead Pride.

That’s a good sign; however, when you think about the likely asking price for Chris Jones and L’Jarius Sneed, along with the fact Drue Tranquill, Willie Gay and Mike Danna are also free agents’ KCs money could be rather tight.

Who might the Chiefs cut

The easiest way to free up some money would be to cut some current players.

On the offensive side, releasing Marquez Valdes-Scantling makes sense.

It’s true he made some big catches in the postseason, but overall, he’s rarely going to have his number called.

There’s still Rashee Rice, Travis Kelce and Isiah Pacheco, and if cutting Valdes-Scantling means keeping KCs defense intact, then that should be done.

While he’s not a free agent, cutting Valdes-Scantling opens up $12 million in cap space with only $2 million in dead money.

Making 21 catches for 315 yards as Valdes-Scantling did in 2023 hardly justifies paying him that kind of money.

Meanwhile, Justin Watson does many of the same things; he had better numbers (27 catches, 460 yards) but has a base salary of around $1.5 million.

Defensively, two players that would save the Chiefs money would be Justin Reid and Charles Omenihu.

Releasing Reid would free up over $10 million in cap space while dumping Omenihu would add over $7 million to the budget.

Omenihu is recovering from an ACL tear and could be out long-term anyway, so cutting him makes logical sense.

Reid would be a tougher choice as he led the team in tackles this season (95), but Chamarri Conner could step in and surprise us.

Cutting Reid and Omenihu would result in $3.5 million and $3.8 million in dead money, respectively.

Whose contracts should the Chiefs restructure

Another avenue worth exploring is the possibility of restructuring some Chief contracts.

Joe Thuney is a First-team All-Pro, making over $15 million.

Restructuring his deal could create close to $7.5 million.

However, it could leave a $34 million cap number, the last season of Thuney’s contract.

Jawaan Taylor came from the Jaguars with a heavy price tag.

His base salary for 2024 is $19.5 million per Spotrac, which is guaranteed.

In 2023, he made headlines primarily for all his penalties, and the club could convert a bunch of his base salary into a signing bonus, freeing up over $12.5 million in the process.

The big picture

At the end of the day, some maneuvring may need to happen, but these are reasonable solutions.

Those names mentioned have made some contributions, but the objective is a three-peat, and the front office needs to ask themselves, will cutting those players mentioned hamper their chances of winning?

The answer should be a resounding no.

At the end of the day, these are smart moves that keep the key pieces intact, giving them a good opportunity at another Super Bowl.