clock menu more-arrow no yes mobile

Filed under:

Safety Mike Edwards’ cap hit comes in just below $3 million for 2023

The former Tampa Bay player could earn over $2 million that will count against Kansas City’s 2024 salary cap.

Super Bowl LV Photo by Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images

On St. Patrick’s Day — the day Kansas City Chiefs fans celebrate quarterback Patrick Mahomes having tens of millions of dollars guaranteed in a future year of his contract — the team also signed free-agent safety Mike Edwards to a one-year contract.

The deal was initially reported to be for $3 million, with incentives that could push the total compensation to $5 million.

We now have the complete details on Edwards’ deal with the Chiefs.

It begins with a base salary of $1.08 million, the NFL minimum for a player with the four credited seasons Edwards collected with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

The Chiefs have also paid him a $1.4 million sighing bonus — and agreed to a $20,000 workout bonus. Edwards will collect the latter payment if he participates in the voluntary parts of the team’s offseason program.

Finally, the team has agreed to pay Edwards a total of $500,000 in per-game roster bonuses. That all adds up to the even $3 million that was reported.

But since Edwards appeared in just 13 regular-season games for Tampa Bay last season, only 13/17ths of that $500,000 ($382,353) is counted against the 2023 salary cap as likely-to-be-earned (LTBE) money. Should Edwards earn the remaining $117,467 by playing in all 17 regular-season games, that (along with up to $2 million in unspecified incentives) will be considered not-likely-to-be-earned (NLTBE) — and will count against the 2024 salary cap.

Including all known signings, the Chiefs now have 60 players under contract. We estimate that the team has something between $3.6 and $5.5 million in cap space — but very likely near $4.9 million.

NEW: Join Arrowhead Pride Premier

If you love Arrowhead Pride, you won’t want to miss Pete Sweeney in your inbox each week as he delivers deep analysis and insights on the Chiefs' path to the Super Bowl.