The Kansas City Chiefs continue their ongoing quest to get under the salary cap today as they informed right tackle Jawaan Taylor that he will be released before the start of the league’s new year, barring a trade, in an ESPN report from Nate Taylor via Adam Schefter.
The move, which has been widely expected for some time, will save Kansas City $20 million against the salary cap, and it will put the Chiefs under the cap when the league year starts on March 11.
While this is the largest cap cut, it’s not the biggest move by far. The Chiefs restructured the contract of quarterback Patrick Mahomes last month, and the long-haul savings of that move are larger and more impactful. The Chiefs also released veteran defensive end Mike last week in a move that saved $9 million.
Taylor had one year left on his existing deal of four years, $80 million, and initially he helped stabilize the offensive line as the Chiefs became the league’s first repeat Super Bowl champions in 20 years back in 2024.
But Taylor also failed to overcome his ongoing issues with penalties, as he committed a total of 49 in 45 games with the Chiefs, according to the report. Kansas City was able to deal with his issues until this past season, when the Chiefs went 6-11 and penalties became a team-wide issue.
The depth chart now shows Jaylon Moore as the teams’s starting right tackle, and Moore is a five-year veteran who currently has a two-year contract worth $30 million. The Chiefs went with rookie Josh Simmons at left tackle to protect Mahomes’ blind side, and that mostly worked out well, although Simmons did have to leave the team for personal reasons in the middle of the season. He struggled with injuries as the disappointing campaign came to a close.
The Chiefs will undoubtedly draft at least one offensive lineman for depth, and they could go bigger and invest more given that Mahomes’ mobility will be limited as he returns from the ACL/LCL tear that ended his season.
According to Nate Taylor, the Chiefs could create even more cap space by releasing linebacker Drue Tranquill and tight end Noah Gray, and they could also restructure the contracts of defensive tackle Chris Jones and center Creed Humphrey. A sequence involving all of these moves would indicate that the Chiefs are planning to invest heavily in free agents to solve some of their other positional issues.