Kansas City Chiefs

At $7.8M in current room ranked 31st leaguewide and projecting a shortfall of $18.4M next season, the Chiefs are operating at the very edge of what the cap allows.

19 contracts expiring

Madden Tools Analysis

Eight starting spots have weak depth behind the starter.

Seven picks this season including two first-rounders and a second gives Kansas City a meaningful haul to work with, and 21 picks across three years provides a genuine rebuild runway if needed.

• Acquired: Round 6 from 49ers, this draft
• Acquired: Round 3 from Rams, this draft
• Traded away: Round 6 to Jets, this draft
• Traded away: Round 7 to 49ers, this draft

The roster's top strength is the interior offensive line headlined by Creed Humphrey, Trey Smith, and Josh Simmons, while the weakest spot is a REDGE group that ranks among the worst starter situations in the entire league.

• REDGEhigh

  R Mason Thomas starts at REDGE but the position ranks 30th in starter quality leaguewide, making an upgrade the most urgent defensive priority on the roster.

• RThigh

  Jaylon Moore holds the starting RT spot ranked 27th leaguewide, and with $14.2M freed by a potential release, an upgrade here is both affordable and impactful if cap moves are made.

• SAMhigh

  Jeffrey Bassa starts at SAM and the position ranks dead last leaguewide at 13 of 13, requiring immediate attention through free agency or a depth shuffle.

• SSmedium

  Jaden Hicks starts at SS ranked 25th leaguewide, though Chamarri Conner and Jadon Canady provide serviceable depth behind him while the position develops.

• 79Kristian FultonCBKristian Fulton is the CB3 behind Mansoor Delane and Nohl Williams and releasing him frees $9.8M against just $3.3M in dead money, making him the most efficient cap-recovery option on the roster.Frees $9.8M · $3.3M dead
• 72Jaylon MooreRTJaylon Moore starts at RT as a 72-overall player at the team's second-biggest positional need, and cutting him frees $14.2M with $4.4M in dead money, creating the largest single cap recovery available.Frees $14.2M · $4.4M dead
• 70Justin FieldsQBJustin Fields sits second on the QB depth chart behind Mahomes at 70 overall with no dead-money penalty, so releasing him frees a clean $3.0M with no cap consequence.Frees $3.0M · $0 dead
• 65Mike CaliendoLGMike Caliendo backs up Kingsley Suamataia at LG and carries a 65 overall, and releasing him recovers $1.1M against only $200K in dead money with minimal depth impact.Frees $1.1M · $200.0K dead
• 73Noah GrayTENoah Gray is listed as the TE2 but carries $4.5M in dead money on a release, meaning the $2.5M freed does not cover the dead-cap hit, so any cut decision must weigh roster flexibility against that net loss.Frees $2.5M · $4.5M dead

Kansas City enters this stretch as a legitimate contender built around Patrick Mahomes, a dominant interior offensive line, and Kenneth Walker's backfield production. The window is real but the constraints are tight. Travis Kelce, entering the final chapter of a historic career, remains the top weapon but cannot be counted on as the long-term TE anchor, making the development of Jared Wiley and Jake Briningstool a quiet priority. Chris Jones still commands the defensive front, though the organization should be thinking about what comes after him at DT. The most pressing problems are structural: the right edge is one of the weakest starting spots in the league, the right tackle slot is shaky, and the SAM linebacker depth is the worst-ranked in the game. Cap flexibility is almost nonexistent, with $7.8M available this season ranked 31st and a projected shortfall next year, meaning roster-building will depend heavily on creative contract management and developing young contributors like Josh Simmons, Mansoor Delane, and Nohl Williams into cost-effective contributors. Seven picks this season across six rounds give the team resources to add bodies, but the real path forward is turning the young core into starters while Mahomes remains in his prime.

The franchise was founded by oilman Lamar Hunt as a charter member of the American Football League, beginning play in 1960 as the Dallas Texans. Unable to share the Dallas market with the NFL's expansion Cowboys, Hunt moved the team to Kansas City in 1963 and renamed it the Chiefs, a nod to the nickname of Kansas City Mayor Harold Roe Bartle ("Chief"). Under coach Hank Stram, the team thrived: it won the 1962 AFL Championship as the Texans, then AFL titles again in 1966 and 1969. The Chiefs played in the first-ever Super Bowl (a 35-10 loss to Green Bay) and capped the AFL's existence by upsetting the Minnesota Vikings 23-7 in Super Bowl IV, the last game before the AFL-NFL merger took full effect in 1970. After the merger, the Chiefs entered a long competitive drought; the Marty Schottenheimer era restored a hard-nosed, defense-led identity around Derrick Thomas and Neil Smith, and Dick Vermeil's early-2000s teams featured a record-setting Priest Holmes offense, but a Super Bowl return remained elusive for half a century. The modern golden age began when Andy Reid was hired in 2013 and accelerated when the team drafted Patrick Mahomes in 2017. Mahomes took over in 2018 and the Chiefs became the NFL's defining dynasty, winning Super Bowls LIV, LVII and LVIII and reaching five Super Bowls in six years. Their bid for an unprecedented "three-peat" ended in a 40-22 Super Bowl LIX rout by the Philadelphia Eagles in February 2025. The 2025 season then unraveled: Mahomes tore his ACL (and LCL) in December, and the team finished 6-11 and out of the playoffs for the first time since 2014.