Trading for wideout DeAndre Hopkins meant that the Kansas City Chiefs had very little cap space remaining after the blockbuster move. However, the team freed up some cap space on October 25 by restructuring starting right tackle Jawaan Taylor‘s contract by converting his salary into a signing bonus, which created $5.3 million in cap space, according to ESPN’s Field Yates.
With three of the team’s top receivers (Rashee Rice, Hollywood Brown, JuJu Smith-Schuster) and starting cornerback Jaylen Watson all dealing with injuries, there’s a chance that Kansas City might continue to add talent to its roster ahead of the NFL trade deadline, which is on Tuesday, November 5. Freeing up cap space in-season allows the two-time defending Super Bowl champions the flexibility to do that.
Chiefs Prepping for Revenge Game Against Raiders
Kansas City’s Week 8 game is against the division-rival Las Vegas Raiders, who beat the Chiefs 20-17 at Arrowhead Stadium on Christmas Day the last time the two teams played each other. Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes remembers that game being a wake-up call for himself and his teammates.
“I think more than anything, more than even the play on the field, I think it was just a wakeup call for us to know that we’re not going to be able to just come to the game and win,” Mahomes said during his media availability on October 23. “We kind of battled through the year and it was like everybody was just kind of — we were just trying to build – especially, I feel like myself, we were just building for the playoffs. We weren’t even worried about the regular season.
“I think you’ve seen that mentality since then is the guys are really taking every single practice and getting the best out of it so that every single week, we can play our best football and if we don’t play our best football, we try to get better that next week. I think that’s translated into this season. We’re continuing to get better as the season goes on and that’s how you have to play in the NFL – and it’s still early, but I feel like we’ve had a great start to it.”
Chiefs Facing a Broken Down Raiders Team
Heading into the Week 8 matchup, the Chiefs are undefeated and are in first place in the AFC West with a 6-0 record. Meanwhile, the Raiders are in last place in the division with a 2-5 record.
Since the start of the regular season, Las Vegas has dealt with substantial changes to its starting lineup on both sides of the football. That includes but is not limited to trading away star wideout Davante Adams, benching quarterback Gardner Minshew and placing backup QB Aidan O’Connell on injured reserve due to a thumb injury, and losing defensive tackle Christian Wilkins indefinitely due to a Jones fracture in his foot.
It’s yet another down year for a Las Vegas squad that can’t seem to get out of its own way from an organizational standpoint. But that doesn’t mean it’s an easy matchup for the Chiefs, as the Raiders always give them trouble no matter the situation.
The Chiefs-Raiders game will take place at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas on Sunday, October 27 at 3:25 p.m. Central Time and will be available to watch on CBS.
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