Chiefs' Updated Salary Cap After Jawaan Taylor Contract Restructure, Hopkins Trade

Needing to free cap space because their books were getting a little tight after acquiring DeAndre Hopkins, the Kansas City Chiefs have adjusted right tackle Jawaan Taylor's contract.

Per ESPN's Field Yates, the Chiefs restructured Taylor's deal to open up $5.3 million in cap space for this season.

As of Thursday, Roster Management System (h/t ESPN.com) estimated the Chiefs as having $3.8 million in cap room. Taylor's restructure will bump that number up to $9.1 million.

The Chiefs officially announced their acquisition of DeAndre Hopkins in a trade with the Tennessee Titans on Thursday.

Per NFL Network's Ian Rapoport, the Titans are paying roughly half of Hopkins' remaining salary and will receive a 2025 fifth-round draft pick that can become a fourth-rounder.

Before making the deal for Hopkins, Kansas City reportedly had talks with the Los Angeles Rams about Cooper Kupp. The problem with that scenario for the Chiefs was the amount of money Kupp is still owed and the compensation Los Angeles was seeking, per The Athletic's Dianna Russini.

While a healthy Kupp is probably a better player at this point in his career than Hopkins, the gap between them isn't significant enough to be worth the potential difference in draft compensation.

Hopkins should be able to step in and solve a huge need at receiver for the Chiefs. Their pass-catching situation has been a mess this season, starting with Marquise Brown suffering a shoulder injury during the preseason that will keep him out for the regular season.

Rashee Rice suffered a torn LCL trying to make a tackle after a Patrick Mahomes interception in a Week 4 win over the Los Angeles Chargers. Xavier Worthy has made a few splash plays, but he doesn't look ready to take on the role of a go-to receiver this early in his career.

Travis Kelce is averaging a career-low 8.8 yards per reception and has yet to find the end zone in six games.

Chiefs head coach Andy Reid has already said that Hopkins will move into the role that Rice and JuJu Smith-Schuster have had.

The Chiefs proved last year they don't need a great receiving corps to win a Super Bowl, but they needed better production than what they have been getting. Things are so rough for them right now that Patrick Mahomes has more interceptions (eight) than touchdowns (six).

For all of the issues the Chiefs have had on offense, they are still 6-0 because Mahomes finds enough plays within a game to put up enough points and this defense is dominating opponents.

Hopkins is almost certainly a partial-season rental for Kansas City, but he could end up being a key piece for a team that is more than capable of winning another championship.