How much salary cap space do the Chiefs need for 2014 NFL Draft picks?

Kansas City Chiefs fans have been talking about something this offseason in a way they haven't talked about in a long time: salary cap space. It's not like Chiefs fans ignored it in years past -- we talked plenty about cap space -- it was that the conversation was around the Chiefs not spending enough of their salary cap space. These days the Chiefs are up against the cap.

KC Chiefs GM John Dorsey said on a call Tuesday that the Chiefs are actually in a "good position right now" with the salary cap.

"It gives us some flexibility to do a few things if we have to and it gives us flexibility to acquire some more players if we have to," Dorsey said, "but I think we're in a good space right now. We're in a good place."

Currently, the Chiefs are at about $4.8 million in salary cap space. The Chiefs have 72 players under contract but during the offseason only the top 51 players count against the cap.

Some people have asked: How much cap space do the Chiefs need for their draft picks?

Unless Dorsey's off trading draft picks as we speak, the Chiefs have six draft picks to use in May. Those six draft picks will consume about $3.9 million in cap space, according to numbers from Over The Cap.

Remember, though, only the top 51 contracts count against the cap. Those six draft picks will knock minimum players ($420,000) off the list of the top 51, which should result in a net difference of about $1.4 million in cap space for the Chiefs draft picks.

So the Chiefs "true" cap space right now -- minus the cost of draft picks, which we know they'll have -- is about $3.4 million. Of course, that's all fluid ...

Last year, the Chiefs entered the season with around $5 million in cap space after reportedly restructuring Brandon Flowers' deal.

I mentioned this the other day, but for those wondering if the Chiefs can or will create more cap space, it's worth noting they were in on the Emmanuel Sanders talks. That would have presumably been a few million against the cap, which they were prepared to do (and thought they already did do, actually). If they're willing to go this tight against the cap now, it makes sense there would be plans to create more space down the road.