Chiefs Restructure Joe Thuney’s Contract With Chris Jones Returning

The Kansas City Chiefs are slated to get star defensive tackle Chris Jones back in the fold soon, but the club must first create enough salary cap space to accommodate that move due to him previously being placed on the reserve/did not report list. A major step in that process appears to be completed, as a contract lever on the opposite side of the trenches is being pulled.

Per Field Yates of ESPN, Kansas City has created $8.7 million in 2023 salary cap room by restructuring the deal of starting left guard Joe Thuney:

The Chiefs needed to create some cap space with the return of DL Chris Jones to the roster.

In order to do so, they restructured the contract of G Joe Thuney, creating $8.7M in 2023 cap space.
— Field Yates (@FieldYates) September 12, 2023

This was a widely expected move, as the Thuney contract had multiple years of control left on it. Additionally, the steady offensive lineman has been a mainstay as one of the better guards in the NFL. Even as Thuney advances into his age-32 and age-33 seasons in 2024 and 2025, he'll likely remain a formidable interior offensive lineman. His lucrative contract left plenty of room for Kansas City to maneuver, but the downside is that it raises his future salary cap hits a fair bit higher than his previously listed amounts of $22.62M for each of the two seasons beyond 2023. In turn, it becomes increasingly difficult for the Chiefs to cut him in the future.

With all of that said, this lone move doesn't make the Chiefs totally cap-compliant just yet. If Jones is to be activated to the 53-man roster in time for Sunday's game against the Jacksonville Jaguars, the team must be under the cap in order for him to officially rejoin the team for game day. Kansas City was granted a two-week roster exemption for Jones on Tuesday afternoon after reinstating him from the did not report list, providing some flexibility, but only if Jones isn't on the roster.

Assuming the Chiefs want Jones on the field in Week 2, they must be compliant with the salary cap and also make room on the 53-man roster. The first part of that equation could be solved by toying with the contracts of either tight end Travis Kelce (under team control through the end of the 2025 season) or safety Justin Reid (under contract in 2024), both of whom have been popular picks for this scenario. Once general manager Brett Veach clears enough cap room to meet league rules and also potentially have some runway left over, Jones can be completely activated and Kansas City can move forward as a full-go.

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