The Kansas City Chiefs have reworked Patrick Mahomes’ contract for a fourth consecutive year, generating critical salary-cap relief as they attempt to reset following a disappointing 2025 campaign.

According to ESPN and others, the restructuring converts $54.45m of Mahomes’ 2026 salary into a signing bonus, thereby reducing his cap figure for the coming season to a mere $34.65m. As large as that may still seem, the move — first reported Wednesday by Over the Cap — creates $43.65m in immediate cap space for the multiple Super Bowl winners. Mahomes had initially been scheduled to carry a whopping $78.2m cap hit in 2026.

KC entered the offseason — having missed the playoffs for the first time in the Mahomes era — sitting more than $57m over the projected $300m+ cap limit and, even after this week’s financial chicanery, are expected to make further manoeuvres in order to increase their spending power in the forthcoming free agency window.

Under the revised structure of Mahomes’ deal, the quarterback will count for an additional $11m against the cap in each of the following four seasons. That pushes his 2027 cap number to an eye-watering $85m, per Over the Cap, although, of course, massaging the numbers can always happen again. Mahomes originally signed a 10-year, $450m extension in 2020 — in what was then the richest contract in North American team sports history — and is due to reach another contract option before 2028, when both his salary and cap figure drop significantly.

Like all teams, the Chiefs must be under the league’s salary cap when the new year begins on March 11th, not only for its ability to shop, but also to meet NFL regulations.