2025 salary cap expected to increase by at least $22 million

Over the last two years, the NFL has increased its cap by a total of $53 million.

On Wednesday, the NFL notified teams around the league about the salary cap increase expected for the 2025 season.

According to ESPN’s Dan Graziano, the cap will rise to somewhere in the range of $277.5 million to $281.5 million — making for an increase of at least $22.1 million from the 2024 season.

The salary cap management tracker Spotrac currently sees the Chiefs spending around $275 million, which means that (at the time of this writing) they are projected to have an estimated $2.5 million and $6.5 million when the new league year begins on March 12.

Naturally, general manager Brett Veach and the Chiefs are expected to make some moves over the next three weeks that would provide additional cap room.

Potential changes include Veach converting some of quarterback Patrick Mahomes’ contract into a signing bonus (via his guarantee mechanisms), the Chiefs extending left guard Joe Thuney past the final year of his contract in 2025 and tight end Travis Kelce retiring or agreeing to a contract adjustment.

Extra cap space helps everybody, and the next 21 days prove to be very interesting as Veach balances the cap while addressing team needs.

Despite having priority free agents — including right guard Trey Smith, linebacker Nick Bolton, safety Justin Reid and defensive lineman Charles Omenihu — Kansas City remains unlikely to use the franchise tag, as we shared on Monday.