The Kansas City Chiefs were among the NFL teams that were in the most financial trouble heading into the 2026 season. Well, not anymore. And that’s thanks in large part to their franchise quarterback, Patrick Mahomes, agreeing to restructure his contract. Though now, that has created the expectation that other highly paid QBs, like Dak Prescott of the Dallas Cowboys, should do the same.
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Let’s not go too crazy praising Mahomes here, however. It was a good thing he did to help the team a little bit in the short term, but it’s not like he took a pay cut. The team reduced his cap hit in 2026 from $78.2 million to $34.7 million by converting $54.5 million of his pay this year into a signing bonus.
Prior to the move, the Chiefs had been over $54 million over the projected salary cap of around $303 million in 2026. The restructure saves the team nearly $44 million. So they’re not out of the woods yet, but it makes a big difference. And it was a move that other teams might wish they could make too. Teams like the Cowboys, who are nearly $27 million over the cap right now (fourth worst in the NFL).
And that’s why Cris Carter believes Prescott should follow in Mahomes’ footsteps and help give his team a bit more financial flexibility in 2026.
“[Prescott]’s the highest paid. So now when you start looking at, okay, [George] Pickens is talking about he wants to be the highest paid. CeeDee Lamb, they just gave him $35 million. Dak’s making $55 million. You could eat up $300 million in a hurry,” Carter argued on his podcast, Fully Loaded.
If they do give wideout George Pickens a big deal worth around $25-$30 million a year (or even if they tag him), that would mean they’re paying about $120 million to just three players in 2026. That’s about half of the salary cap on about five percent of the 53-man roster.
That’s why it might make sense for Prescott and the Cowboys to work something out. Because, as Carter said, there must be a willingness to do the restructuring from both the player and the team. Mahomes and the Chiefs do this dance basically every year, so it’s no big deal for them at this point.
With the most recent restructure, Mahomes’ cap hit is set to go above $80 million in 2027. Have a guess on whether they’ll restructure it again at that point.
But for Prescott and owner Jerry Jones, this would certainly be something new. Whether they have the same relationship of mutual respect that Mahomes clearly has in K.C. is unknown and admittedly unlikely, considering what kind of guy Jones is. Nonetheless, it might be a conversation they need to have if they expect to keep Pickens and make the defensive signings they need to improve on last season’s 7-9-1 effort.
