NFL announces significant salary cap spike for 2024 season

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (KCTV) - Chiefs general manager Brett Veach just got a little more financial flexibility to work with this off-season.

On Friday, the National Football League announced that the salary cap for the 2024 NFL season will be $255.4 million per team.

The NFL said the “unprecedented $30 million increase per club in this year’s Salary Cap is the result of full repayment of all amounts advanced by the clubs and deferred by the players during the COVID pandemic as well as an extraordinary increase in media revenue for the 2024 season.”

READ MORE: Kansas City Chiefs sign former college star Matt Araiza in punter’s return to the league

The unprecedented spike in salary cap afford the back-to-back champion Chiefs with a little extra spending space in an attempt to bring back defensive tackle Chris Jones and cornerback L’Jarius Sneed, who are both potential free agents this off-season.

It comes after the most-watched Super Bowl in NFL history as well.

Kansas City currently has $226 million in active contracts for the 2024 season allotted. Veach has several moves at his disposal that could free up money; one of which being cutting wide receiver Marquez Valdes-Scantling. If cut, Valdes-Scantling’s $14 million cap hit would be moved to a $2 million dead cap hit, saving the Chiefs $12 million in 2024.

Last off-season, the Chiefs agreed to with quarterback Patrick Mahomes on a deal that moved an additional $43.3 million into the 2023-2026 league years. In 2023, Mahomes became the first quarterback to ever win the Super Bowl as the league’s highest-paid player in the winning season.

With the new salary cap numbers in place, franchise tag numbers were altered as well. If the Chiefs elected to franchise tag Jones it would cost them more than $32 million. If the Chiefs elected to franchise tag Sneed, the new franchise tag rate for cornerbacks is $19.8 million.

On Thursday, Kansas City signed punter Matt Araiza in a move that likely saves the Chiefs money as punter Tommy Townsend heads to unrestricted free agency. In this year’s NFL Draft, the Chiefs will once again pick in the final slot of the first round.