NFL reporter reveals 3 Kansas City Chiefs starters who may be cap casualties in 2024

Credit: Denny Medley-USA TODAY Sports

The Kansas City Chiefs became the first repeat Super Bowl winners in two decades but with the NFL offseason calendar underway, the back-to-back champions will have some difficult decisions to make because of the salary cap.

Kansas City is currently in danger of losing multiple starters to the open market, including top cornerback L’Jarius Sneed and All-Pro defensive tackle Chris Jones. While every effort will be made to retain them, the cost of doing so could come at the expense of depth for the Chiefs roster.

The Chiefs are prioritizing Jones and Sneed, but it will cost the franchise more than $40 million. Sneed’s asking price on a multi-year deal would make him one of the top-paid cornerbacks in the NFL, while Jones wants to become one of the highest-paid NFL players ever.

Kansas City Chiefs cap space 2024: $15.222 million

Kansas City could place the franchise tag on either player, but it would allow the other to become a free agent. Sneed’s market is quickly developing and Jones would be the most coveted player in NFL free agency. As the front office figures out how to make it all work out financially, one NFL insider is detailing what lengths Kansas City might need to go to for it to happen.

ESPN’s senior NFL reporter Dan Graziano detailed some of the moves the Chiefs will potentially have to make this offseason just to create more cap space. Among the cost-cutting options for Kansas City are cutting safety Justin Reid, wide receiver Marquez Valdes-Scantling and edge rusher Charles Omenihu.

Examining the Chiefs’ cap situation

Valdes-Scantling was always going to be a presumed cap casualty for Kansas City. By releasing the 30-year-old wide receiver, the Chiefs would create $12 million in cap space. If Reid is cut, Kansas City would gain another $10.75 million of cap space.

Omenihu could be a more difficult decision. He played an integral role in the team’s AFC Championship Game victory over the Baltimore Ravens, creating a strip-sack on Lamar Jackson that proved to be one of the biggest plays of the game. However, he also suffered an ACL tear in that matchup. If Omenihu is released, the Chiefs would gain another $7.22 million of cap space.

Making those three moves would leave Kansas City with an estimated $38 million of cap space in 2024. In addition, the Chiefs could restructure the Patrick Mahomes contract. Doing so would free up $35.632 million in cap savings, giving general manager Brett Veach more than $70 million to work with. Talks on a restructuring with Mahomes are already underway.

Based on the depth at safety and the team’s plans to upgrade at wide receiver, Reid and Valdes-Scantling could very likely be gone before the 2024 season. However, the cap savings created by restructuring Mahomes’ contract could allow Kansas City to keep Omenihu.