Wednesday brought the shocking news that the Kansas City Chiefs are trading cornerback Trent McDuffie — a former first-team All-Pro selection — to the Los Angeles Rams for a package of draft picks centered around this year’s 29th-overall selection.
There is no shortage of immediate takes surrounding the trade and what general manager Brett Veach might do now, armed with three of the top 40 selections in next month’s draft. An immediate ramification that can be overlooked is the erasure of the $13.6 million salary McDuffie was due in 2026.
Entering the day at about $8.5 million over the salary cap, the trade alone would have put the Chiefs into positive financial territory. Another move on Wednesday, however, drew much less attention.
Hours after the McDuffie news broke, the Chiefs officially released tackle Jawaan Taylor, presumably after failing to find a trade partner. So the scheduled $20-million cap assigned to Taylor is off the books as well.
After accounting for the two moves, Spotrac has the Chiefs now at $23.3 million under the salary cap.
While the Chiefs are presumably not done clearing room for future moves, the front office has ample ability to get started when free agency kicks off next week. Most free-agent contracts will be structured to pay out the first year via signing bonus, and that is spread over the life of the contract for cap purposes. Basically, Kansas City is free to chase any desired and available player.
A benefit of already being under the salary cap is that the Chiefs do not have to cut any more players before the team is able to negotiate with potential replacements. Eventually, Kansas City may move off of moderate non-guaranteed 2026 salaries for linebacker Drue Tranquill and tight end Noah Gray. However, the team can easily carry the contracts until after the draft to ensure cost-effective talent at the positions.
Kansas City’s most obvious move to create more salary-cap breathing room remains the figure of $22.5 million available via restructuring defensive tackle Chris Jones. The team could still decide to do that.
With McDuffie’s salary erased, however, the team may decide it can convert a smaller amount to increase future-cap flexibility — or decide to restructure other candidates and leave Jones’ $35 million in guaranteed 2026 compensation alone.
After parting with one of the organization’s best players, the Chiefs will likely respond with one or two splashy moves in free agency. Beyond the salary cap, however, there may now be another consideration in the offseason budget and total spending with the Chiefs holding picks No. 9 and No. 29 as well as pick No. 40 in the early portion of Day 2.
Kansas City’s first-round selections will sign fully guaranteed four-year contracts. Spotrac predicts the ninth-overall selection’s contract to total $30.8 million and the 29th pick to receive $17.3 million. In addition, last year’s 40th overall selection — New Orleans Saints quarterback Tyler Shough — was the final 2025 selection to receive a fully guaranteed contract. Spotrac has this year’s 40th pick in line for $11.8 million.
Assuming the Chiefs make all three selections, the trio’s combined 2026 cap hit should be less than $12 million. But the approximately $60 million the Chiefs will potentially commit to three rookies will require escrow payments under the league’s funding rule.
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