{"id":27398,"date":"2025-02-20T04:09:24","date_gmt":"2025-02-20T04:09:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=27398"},"modified":"2025-02-20T04:09:24","modified_gmt":"2025-02-20T04:09:24","slug":"breaking-nfl-announces-huge-change-to-salary-cap-that-could-help-chiefs-keep-travis-kelce-and-key-free-agents","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=27398","title":{"rendered":"BREAKING: NFL announces huge change to salary cap that could help Chiefs keep Travis Kelce and key free agents.."},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\">The NFL is hiking its salary cap once again thanks to another profitable season for the league.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\">As first reported by\u00a0ESPN\u2019s Dan Graziano, the Commissioner\u2019s Office on Wednesday informed teams the NFL salary cap will be raised to somewhere between $277.5 million to $281.5 million for the 2025 season. That\u2019s a dramatic rise from the $255.4 million salary cap teams faced in 2024 and a $53 million increase over the last two seasons.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\">DailyMail.com has reached out to NFL spokespeople for confirmation.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\">In its letter announcing the new salary cap, the NFL explained that a firm figure is not yet finalized because of few deferment options that are being presented to the NFL Players Association. A final figure could be worked out over the next week or so.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\">Generally speaking, the league salary cap is based on a 48-percent player share of football-related income and then divided by the number of NFL teams: 32.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\">Several NFL teams should be celebrating the move, although none more than the\u00a0<span data-track-module=\"internal-body-link\">Kansas<\/span>\u00a0City Chiefs, who were facing a number of cap casualties heading into the offseason.<\/p>\n<div class=\"artSplitter mol-img-group\">\n<div class=\"mol-img\">\n<div class=\"image-wrap\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" id=\"i-9016f688d9db3aa\" class=\"blkBorder img-share\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2025\/02\/19\/18\/95379343-0-image-a-18_1739990699664.jpg\" alt=\"Travis Kelce remains under contract as he ponders retirement heading into next season\" width=\"634\" height=\"423\" data-gallery-handler-attached=\"true\" \/><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"imageCaption\">Travis Kelce remains under contract as he ponders retirement heading into next season<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"artSplitter mol-img-group\">\n<div class=\"mol-img\">\n<div class=\"image-wrap\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" id=\"i-b3a21413fc2ed216\" class=\"blkBorder img-share\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2025\/02\/19\/18\/95379321-0-image-a-19_1739990703745.jpg\" alt=\"The Kansas City Chiefs are hoping to re-sign Pro Bowl right guard Trey Smith this offseason\" width=\"634\" height=\"423\" data-gallery-handler-attached=\"true\" \/><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"imageCaption\">The Kansas City Chiefs are hoping to re-sign Pro Bowl right guard Trey Smith this offseason<\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\"><span data-track-module=\"internal-body-link\">Travis Kelce<\/span>\u00a0remains under contract as he ponders retirement, but now the reigning AFC Champions stand a much better chance at keeping Pro Bowl right guard Trey Smith regardless of the star tight end&#8217;s decision.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\">Furthermore, Chiefs general manager Brett Veach could have more flexibility to address pressing needs at\u00a0right and left tackle, as well as a lucrative extension offer for elite cornerback Trent McDuffie.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\">And it&#8217;s not just the league&#8217;s bigger fish that have reason to rejoice.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\">Rebuilding NFL teams such as the New York Giants and Jets as well as the New England Patriots now have even more cap room to work with as they retool their depleted rosters.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\">No team currently has more cap space than the Patriots, who have more than $120 million to spend in free agency.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\">The Las Vegas Raiders rank second with more than $95 million, while the resurgent Washington Commanders come in third at more than $80 million.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\">In addition to Smith, who is expected to be coveted by a number of teams, other top free agents include Baltimore Ravens left tackle Ronnie Staley, New York Jets cornerback D.J. Reed, Tampa Bay Buccaneers receiver Chris Godwin and Minnesota Vikings quarterback Sam Darnold.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\">Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver Tee Higgins was expected to be the top prize, but is once again expected to receive the franchise tag, tying him to the Queen City for another season.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"connatix-wrapper\"><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The NFL is hiking its salary cap once again thanks to another profitable season for the league. As first reported by\u00a0ESPN\u2019s Dan Graziano, the Commissioner\u2019s Office on&#8230; <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":27402,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-27398","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nfl"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.8 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>BREAKING: NFL announces huge change to salary cap that could help Chiefs keep Travis Kelce and key free agents.. - 24\/7 News America<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=27398\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"BREAKING: NFL announces huge change to salary cap that could help Chiefs keep Travis Kelce and key free agents.. - 24\/7 News America\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The NFL is hiking its salary cap once again thanks to another profitable season for the league. As first reported by\u00a0ESPN\u2019s Dan Graziano, the Commissioner\u2019s Office on...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=27398\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"24\/7 News America\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-02-20T04:09:24+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/4-96.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"312\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"387\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=27398\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=27398\",\"name\":\"BREAKING: NFL announces huge change to salary cap that could help Chiefs keep Travis Kelce and key free agents.. - 24\/7 News America\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=27398#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=27398#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/4-96.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-02-20T04:09:24+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-02-20T04:09:24+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/#\/schema\/person\/4fd584257b8aaef08c4e2bc73ee6a914\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=27398#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=27398\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=27398#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/4-96.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/4-96.jpg\",\"width\":312,\"height\":387},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=27398#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"BREAKING: NFL announces huge change to salary cap that could help Chiefs keep Travis Kelce and key free agents..\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/\",\"name\":\"24\/7 News America\",\"description\":\"Breaking Stories, Real Insights&quot;\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/#\/schema\/person\/4fd584257b8aaef08c4e2bc73ee6a914\",\"name\":\"Admin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ab07af1f129ef9c67f3a58e6273eac4d8eb51a1cb066ea995eb6d5f03eceb61b?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ab07af1f129ef9c67f3a58e6273eac4d8eb51a1cb066ea995eb6d5f03eceb61b?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Admin\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?author=2\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"BREAKING: NFL announces huge change to salary cap that could help Chiefs keep Travis Kelce and key free agents.. - 24\/7 News America","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=27398","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"BREAKING: NFL announces huge change to salary cap that could help Chiefs keep Travis Kelce and key free agents.. - 24\/7 News America","og_description":"The NFL is hiking its salary cap once again thanks to another profitable season for the league. As first reported by\u00a0ESPN\u2019s Dan Graziano, the Commissioner\u2019s Office on...","og_url":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=27398","og_site_name":"24\/7 News America","article_published_time":"2025-02-20T04:09:24+00:00","og_image":[{"width":312,"height":387,"url":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/4-96.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Admin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Admin","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=27398","url":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=27398","name":"BREAKING: NFL announces huge change to salary cap that could help Chiefs keep Travis Kelce and key free agents.. - 24\/7 News America","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=27398#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=27398#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/4-96.jpg","datePublished":"2025-02-20T04:09:24+00:00","dateModified":"2025-02-20T04:09:24+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/#\/schema\/person\/4fd584257b8aaef08c4e2bc73ee6a914"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=27398#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=27398"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=27398#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/4-96.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/4-96.jpg","width":312,"height":387},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=27398#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"BREAKING: NFL announces huge change to salary cap that could help Chiefs keep Travis Kelce and key free agents.."}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/","name":"24\/7 News America","description":"Breaking Stories, Real Insights&quot;","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/#\/schema\/person\/4fd584257b8aaef08c4e2bc73ee6a914","name":"Admin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ab07af1f129ef9c67f3a58e6273eac4d8eb51a1cb066ea995eb6d5f03eceb61b?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ab07af1f129ef9c67f3a58e6273eac4d8eb51a1cb066ea995eb6d5f03eceb61b?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Admin"},"url":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?author=2"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27398","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=27398"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27398\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":27404,"href":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27398\/revisions\/27404"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/27402"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=27398"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=27398"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=27398"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}