The NFL offseason is up and running as the league truly never stops moving, and the Kansas City Chiefs are working on trying to preserve what was left of their dynasty after a down season. Down season, might be underselling it a bit, as the Chiefs fell well short of what was thought to be a worst-case scenario coming into the year.
With some work to do to get under the salary cap before free agency begins, the Chiefs made a big move on the chessboard ahead of the NFL Combine.
Chiefs Make Big Decision on Patrick Mahomes
Patrick Mahomes’ contract was always designed to be manipulated when the Chiefs needed to move money for salary-cap purposes.
Even with this year’s salary cap expected to come in around $304 million, the Chiefs had some work to do.
On Wednesday, ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported that the Chiefs had restructured Mahomes’ contract, reducing his base salary from $78.2 million to $34.65 million. That move alone created $43.56 million in cap space for the Chiefs.
The Kansas City Chiefs restructured Patrick Mahomes’ contract this week, lowering his salary cap number from $78.2 to $34.65 million for the upcoming season and creating $43.56 million in salary cap space, as @Jason_OTC reported. pic.twitter.com/2MShU1GAmq
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) February 18, 2026
Both Mahomes and the Chiefs are coming off a down season. Just 12 months ago, the Chiefs were on the doorstep of a third straight Super Bowl. Had the Chiefs beaten the Philadelphia Eagles, they would have been the first team to win three straight Super Bowls.
Instead, the Chiefs were blasted on Super Bowl Sunday. They lost 40-22Â in a game that was not nearly as close as the final score might indicate.
Of course, as long as a team has Mahomes under center, that team will be considered a Super Bowl contender.
The Chiefs were expected to compete for another championship in 2025, but never found their footing.
DRAFT SEASON: PFSN’s FREE Mock Draft Simulator
Mahomes was lost for the season with a torn ACL, which happened in a 16-13 loss to the Los Angeles Chargers. That loss eliminated the Chiefs from playoff contention.
Mahomes finished the season by completing 62.7 percent of his passes for 3,587 yards, 22 touchdowns, and 11 interceptions. He added 422 yards and 5 touchdowns on the ground, but the Chiefs’ offense has not looked right for each of the last two seasons. This year, the wins simply did not follow like they did in 2024.
Had the Chiefs come back and won that game against the Chargers, making the playoffs would have been a long shot anyway. Instead, they’ll be picking in the top-10 of April’s draft.
The Chiefs still have some big roster decisions to make. Cornerback Jaylen Watson is set to be a free agent. He will be highly sought after on the free agent market after compiling an 80.4 PFSN CB Impact Score in 2025.
Chris Jones is another big decision on the books with a hefty salary set for 2026, which could make him a trade candidate.
Ultimately, if the Chiefs try to keep everything together for another run, it seems likely that former Chief Tyreek Hill could be a target to try to jumpstart their offense as well.
It appears Jones approves of that idea as well.
Ultimately, this is the first of many dominoes to fall, but do not expect the Chiefs to sit idly by while the other teams around them continue to get better.
