Daniel Chavkin of The Sporting News recently noted a few of the biggest winners from the Chiefs’ decision to trade Thuney. Although they did not get much compensation in return for Thuney, they did save money by shipping him and his contract to another team.
“When the Chiefs decided to give Trey Smith the franchise tag at $23 million, they needed to create cap space for the 2025 season. While Kansas City will take on over $10 million in dead cap after trading Thuney, they open up $16 million in cap space,” Chavkin said.
“This move, combined with franchise-tagging Smith, brings Kansas City’s cap space to just $405K entering free agency. Therefore, the Chiefs’ offseason is just beginning, as the team needs to open more space to create cap space.”
Chavkin noted that even though the Chiefs made two significant moves in franchise-tagging one offensive lineman and trading another, trading Thuney should allow the Chiefs to try to keep a few of their pending free agents over the next few weeks.
Chavkin believes the Chiefs’ pending free agents are among the biggest winners of the Thuney trade, as the money his departure freed up could benefit them.
“Even after placing the franchise tag on Trey Smith, the Chiefs still have a few impact players set to hit the market. The Chiefs’ list of free agents includes linebacker Nick Bolton, safety Justin Ried, wide receiver Marquise Brown, defensive tackle Tershawn Wharton, edge rusher Charles Omenihu, and wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins,” Chavkin said.
“Of those free agents, five are in SN’s Vinnie Iyer’s list of top 75 free agents this offseason. The Chiefs‘ moves thus far in the offseason have actually decreased their cap space, so they have work to do if they want to keep any of these free agents.”
