KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The NFL officially turns the calendar toward the 2017 season next week, and the Kansas City Chiefs now know how much they can spend toward building their roster.
The Kansas City Chiefs offense lines up for a snap against the Seattle Seahawks at Arrowhead Stadium on Aug. 13, 2016. (Emily DeShazer/The Topeka Capital-Journal)
The NFL announced the league-wide salary cap of $167 million for the upcoming season. Add the $5,002,168 the Chiefs carry over from 2016, and that gives the Chiefs just more $172 million in available salary cap space.
That leaves the Chiefs $9,592,207 under the salary cap, according to OverTheCap.com. Official figures from the NFL Players Association are not yet available.
The team’s projected cap space includes approximately $6.2 million in savings from the release of running back Jamaal Charles. It does not, however, reflect the new contract for safety Eric Berry.
Berry signed a six-year, $78 million contract on Tuesday. If the Chiefs utilized the franchise tag on Berry, he would have counted $12.96 million toward the salary cap. His projected cap number for 2017 expects to be approximately $5 million according to a source.
Offensive lineman Laurent Duvernay-Tardif also signed a contract extension with the team this week. The new contract reportedly pays out $42.25 million over five years with $20 million guaranteed. The extension covers the 2018 through 2022 seasons.
The 26-year-old right guard current contract carries a cap hit of $723,575. His extension comes with a reported $10 million signing bonus, which would add $1.6 million to his 2007 cap number.
Combined, the Berry and Duvernay-Tardif contracts would reduce the Chiefs available cap space to just under $3 million
That current projected cap space would not be enough to cover the value of the franchise tag for defensive tackle Dontari Poe. The team decline to exercise their option to place the franchise or transition designation on any players before Wednesday’s 3 p.m. league deadline.
If the Chiefs used the franchise designation for Poe, the team would have needed to account for the required $13.387 million contract tender.
The two sides have until 3 p.m. central time on March 9 to reach a new deal before Poe becomes a free agent.
UPDATED: Additional details and clarification on Berry’s and Duvernay-Tardif’s contracts added along with update on Dontari Poe’s contract status.
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Matt Derrick is the lead beat writer for ChiefsDigest.com. Use the contact page to reach him or find him on Twitter: @MattDerrick.
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