No doubt, the Kansas City Chiefs’ recent Super Bowl victory marked a monumental achievement for the franchise.
However, to sustain their success into the upcoming season, retaining Chris Jones is paramount.
Luckily, Patrick Mahomes’ contract offers a solution to this challenge.
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Recently, the Chiefs exercised the option on Jones’ contract, securing his services for the foreseeable future. This decision comes after a period of uncertainty surrounding Jones’ future with the team, particularly at the start of the previous season.
During that time, Jones held out for a contract more akin to that of Aaron Donald of the Los Angeles Rams. Eventually, he settled for a one-year contract following the Chiefs’ loss to the Detroit Lions.
Jones has been instrumental in the Chiefs’ Super Bowl triumph and their continued success. He expressed his desire to remain in Kansas City while seeking increased compensation during the previous offseason.
While accommodating Jones’ demands within the Chiefs’ 2024 salary cap initially seemed daunting, there is a viable solution within reach. Restructuring Mahomes’ contract emerges as a key strategy. According to Dan Graziano’s analysis for ESPN:
“As of now, according to Roster Management System, the Chiefs project to be about $21.2 million under the 2024 cap. (The 2024 cap number isn’t set yet, but most teams around the league seem to be working with a projected cap of $242 million.) They’d need to clear space if they wanted to fit in Jones’ franchise tag.
The Mahomes factor: One of the best assets the Chiefs have at their disposal for these moves is Mahomes’ contract, which has eight years left on it and affords them the perpetual ability to convert salary to bonuses and clear cap room. If the Chiefs did a full restructure on his 2024 compensation — converting all but the required $1.21 million veteran minimum salary to a signing bonus and also converting his $34.9 million roster bonus to a signing bonus — they’d reduce his 2024 cap number from its current $58.6 million to around $23 million.
That savings alone would increase their projected cap space to about $57 million. Put simply, the savings from that restructuring of Mahomes’ contract, which is inevitable, is almost exactly the same as the cap cost of Jones if they franchise him,” Graziano wrote.
Securing Jones and ensuring he receives the compensation he deserves would undoubtedly strengthen the Chiefs’ position in the NFL. Nonetheless, monitoring Mahomes’ contract negotiations in the days ahead remains crucial.