The Kansas City Chiefs gained about $4 million in cap space this week, according to NFLPA records. I had no idea why at first until someone suggested it had something to do with Rod Streater’s contract, which reportedly included likely to be earned incentives.
The KC Star’s Terez Paylor reports that Streater’s cap number has been lowered so there you go.
The renegotiation created cap room because Streater’s incentives — which were for things like receiving yards, touchdowns and receptions and total $4 million — were restructured to go from being likely-to-be-earned (and thus, counting against the cap) to not-like-to-be-earned (and thus, not counting against the cap).
So how do these incentives work? Streater had one catch for eight yards last season. If his incentive this year was for anything fewer than eight yards, it would be likely to be earned. (I really doubt they put in an incentive for seven yards this season) However, if the incentive this year is more than what he gained last year, it would be not likely to be earned. The difference is whether you take the cap hit now or next year if he earns it.
Anyway, long story short, the Chiefs have enough cap space right now. $3,067,210 to be exact.