Patrick Mahomes' contract rework unlocks crucial cap space for the Chiefs, setting the stage for the Jaguars to engineer cap space as free agency looms.
Reports emerged Wednesday of the Kansas City Chiefs working out a contract restructuring with their superstar quarterback, Patrick Mahomes in the team's effort to manufacture salary cap space as free agency approaches.
Arik Armstead totaled 5.5 sacks in 2025, second-most for Jacksonville behind Josh Hines-Allen, who had eight. The defensive end's 3-year, $43.5 million contract ends after the 2026 season, and is eligible for restructuring as the Jaguars look to create cap space ahead of free agency. (Doug Engle/Imagn Images)News of Mahomes' revamped contract serves as the opener for teams across the NFL to work out and announce their own respective cap savings via restructured deals, including what such maneuvers are possible and probable by the Jacksonville Jaguars.
The Chiefs ended the 2025 season an NFL-leading $57 million over the cap, which last year was set at $279.2 million. The league announced on Jan. 30 the projected salary cap for 2026 jump to $303.5 million for each team.
Given the rise in the cap ceiling, the restructuring of Mahomes' contract creates $43.65 million in cap space for the Chiefs, according to Over the Cap, which first reported the restructure.
Mahomes signed an NFL-record 10-year, $450 million deal with the Chiefs in 2020, and the terms of that contract have been restructured four times to help Kansas City ease its cap hit. Before this most recent rearrangement, the team's obligations to Mahomes would have accounted for $78.2 million against the cap in 2026, according to Over the Cap's calculations.
An estimated $54.5 million of Mahomes' 2026 salary has been converted into signing-bonus spending, according to multiple reports, which lowers the cost against the cap of the two-time NFL MVP to $34.65 million.
The No. 1 pick from 2022, Travon Walker agreed to a fifth year with the Jaguars for 2026 with a fully guaranteed $15.2 deal. Jacksonville could negotiate a long-term extension with the bruising defensive end as a way of creating short-term cap space. (Corey Perrine/Imagn Images)Kansas City, which had one of the lowest dead-cap totals to finish the league year ($215,642), will begin to see that dead cap balloon as contract restructuring moves from Mahomes to veteran defensive lineman Chris Jones and other Chiefs players whose deals can be rewritten to ease the burden on the cap-strapped team.
The Jaguars are one of a dozen NFL teams exceeding the salary-cap maximum, at an estimated $9.2 million over the projected salary cap for 2026, ahead of working out restructures to create cap availability.
Amid figuring out which free agents on the team are must-keeps, which the Jags can survive without, and what their options are for finding fresh talent in positions of need as free agency and the draft near, Jacksonville's front office is likely working out contract restructures and extensions that could add up to at least some cap availability for 2026.
The team is likely to try to restructure several player contracts, including those of defensive linemen Arik Armstead, DaVon Hamilton, and Josh Hines-Allen, linebacker Foye Oluokun, and offensive linemen Walker Little, Ezra Cleveland, and Patrick Mekari.
What cap space the Jaguars might be able to engineer through contract restructuring depends on a number of factors. It remains to be seen whether the Jags will work out simple restructures, which don't need to be negotiated with each player, or maximum restructures, which require consultation and agreement with each player, according to an Over the Cap explainer.
The subject of much fan criticism this past season, offensive lineman Walker Little is in the middle of a 3-year, $40.5 million deal that the Jaguars could look to restructure to free up cap space for 2026. (Darren Yamashita/Imagn Images)Maximum restructures include extending contracts for players currently on short-term deals that can be drawn out to create short-term cap relief.
Among such players for Jacksonville is defensive end Travon Walker, who last spring agreed to a fifth-year option to his rookie contract. The short-term extension keeps 2022's No. 1 draft pick under contract for another year, with a possible extension in 2027. Walker is guaranteed an estimated $15.2 million in salary in 2026 -- representing exactly the amount of the cap hit the team takes with his deal for next season, according to Spotrac. After next season, the 25-year-old former Georgia Bulldog will decide whether to pursue an extension with the Jaguars or enter free agency.
General manager James Gladstone said in the team's end-of-season press conference on Jan. 14 that the Jags intended to keep their offensive line intact for 2026. So while Walker Little struggled through injury this past season and saw his role changed from starting left tackle to right guard on an offensive line that shifted throughout the season, there was little indication from Gladstone or head coach Liam Coen that the team might be ready to cut ties with their 6-foot-7, 325-pound 2021 second-round draft pick.
Little, who became a starter in 2024, signed a three-year, $40.5 million extension with the Jaguars that December. The extension included $25.9 million in guarantees, and the contract was later revisited to convert $5.3 million from his 2025 salary into a signing bonus for cap purposes, according to Over the Cap.
Armstead totaled 5.5 sacks in 2025, second-most for Jacksonville behind Josh Hines-Allen, who had eight. The defensive end's three-year, $43.5 million contract from 2024 is eligible for restructuring as the Jaguars look to create cap space. Revamping the contract of the 32-year-old former first-round draft pick would free up an estimated $9.7 million in cap space -- representing the highest cap savings the team could engineer among current contracts open to such restructuring.
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