Patrick Mahomes restructured contract pays immediate dividends for Chiefs

The Kansas City Chiefs are bringing back defensive lineman Tershawn Wharton on a one-year, $2.75M contract, according to Jordan Schultz.

The 25-year-old has spent all four years of his career with Kansas City. Wharton recorded21 combined tackles, two sacks, five quarterback hits, and a fumble recovery on 385 defensive snaps during the 2023 season. He added one sack, one tackle for loss, and one quarterback hit in the AFC Championship Game against the Baltimore Ravens.

Signing Tershawn Wharton is the latest under-the-radar move for Chiefs

These unheralded signings get overlooked every offseason. While retaining Wharton isn't a splashy move, it's a necessary addition for a team that plans on making a deep postseason run after the grueling season. In championship games, Without depth players, stars like defensive tackle Chris Jones wouldn't be able to catch their breath, avoid injury, or have enough gas left in the tank to make a play during an overtime drive in the Super Bowl.

The Chiefs were over the salary cap limit before general manager Brett Veach converted $27 million of quarterback Patrick Mahomes' $34.9 million roster bonus into a signing bonus. While the restructure doesn't affect Mahomes' pay at all, it created $21.6 million in cap space, which helped Kansas City become salary cap compliant by the start of the new league year on Wednesday.

The additional space helped the team bring in other depth pieces, such as defensive tackle Mike Pennel, safety Deon Bush, and tight end Irv Smith, while signing extensions with defensive tackle Chris Jones, linebacker Drue Tranquill, and long snapper James Winchester. Star cornerback L'Jarius Sneed is currently counting for $19.8 million against the cap due the nonexclusive franchise tag, but the team could lower that number by either signing him to a long-term extension or trading him.

The Chiefs have $16.2 million in salary cap space, according to Spotrac, although over $7 million of that will need to be reserved for Kansas City's incoming rookie class from the 2024 NFL Draft. They'll also need some wiggle room for midseason signings and trades.