The Kansas City Chiefs made headlines a few days ago when they acquired a 5x Pro Bowl and 3x First Team All-Pro wide receiver. The Tennessee Titans traded DeAndre Hopkins to the Chiefs for a conditional 2025 fifth-round pick, which can become a fourth-round pick if they make it to the Super Bowl and Hopkins plays at least 60% of snaps. The team desperately needed help at wide receiver since four of their top seven receivers were either out for Week 8, an extended period, or the rest of the season.
The Chiefs could use another receiver and possibly a cornerback since Jaylen Watson will miss most, if not the remainder, of the 2024 season. They may continue to acquire players before the NFL Trade Deadline on November 5 at 4 P.M. ET.
The Kansas City Chiefs could add more help at the NFL Trade Deadline, per an ESPN analyst
According to Pat McAfee, host of the Pat McAfee Show and analyst on ESPN’s College Gameday, the Chiefs might not be done acquiring players at the NFL Trade Deadline. “Source says, tell me, maybe [Chiefs GM Brett Veach] isn’t done,” said McAfee. “That’s what sources told me this morning after a congratulatory tweet was sent out, text was sent out.”
Since the Chiefs have limited cap space, they need to free up some money to acquire another player. They did so this morning.
The Chiefs restructured Jawaan Taylor’s contract by converting $6.625 million of his salary into a signing bonus, adding two void years, freeing $5.3 million in cap space. As a result, Taylor’s $19.5 million base salary drops to $12.875 million, and his $24.725 million cap hit drops to $19.425 million for 2024. Finally, his $6.625 million signing bonus will be evenly spread at $1.325 million for five years, and they will have a $2.65 million dead cap hit when he becomes a free agent in 2027.
With this move, they should have around $9 million in cap space and have plenty of room to work with.
Jawaan Taylor has slightly improved in Year 2 with the Kansas City Chiefs
After struggling in Year 1 with the Chiefs and allowing the T-8th-most pressures and the most penalties in 2023, Taylor has slightly improved in Year 2. So far, he has allowed 11 pressures (T-38th-most) and has seven penalties (T-5th-most) through six games.
Not only has Taylor’s pressure and penalty numbers improved (yes, it’s still early), but he also has a higher passing, blocking, and overall blocking grade. In 2023, he had a 66.4 pass blocking, a 44.6 run blocking, and a 51.6 PFF grade. In 2024, he has a 69.2 pass blocking, a 66.0 run blocking, and a 62.6 PFF grade.
He will likely remain a member of the Chiefs until the end of the 2025 season since $20 million of his salary for 2025 is fully guaranteed because they didn’t release him before the third day of the league’s new year during the 2024 offseason.
