Earlier in the offseason, the Kansas City Chiefs unexpectedly tendered right-of-first-refusal restricted free agency (RFA) tenders to linebacker Jack Cochrane and cornerback Nazeeh Johnson. Each player instantly hit the team’s salary cap with scheduled salaries of $3.3 million.
To casual fans, it seemed curious to tie up almost $7 million to deep reserves who would not see defensive snaps under ideal scenarios. It turns out, the Chiefs likely agreed.
Earlier this month, we learned that Johnson actually signed for a reduced salary when he officially rejoined the Chiefs on March 27. He can now only earn a maximum of $1.9 million, but he is guaranteed to see at least $1.2 million. While the RFA tender salary looked prettier on paper, none of it was guaranteed, and he ran the risk of losing his job to a cheaper player at the final roster cutdown before the season.
Photo by Michael Owens/Getty Images
We now know that the Chiefs came to a similar compromise with Cochrane, who originally joined the team as an undrafted free agent in 2022 and has become a four-phase special-teams contributor. Per the contract website Spotrac, Cochrane’s salary has been reduced to $1.6 million (with $800,000 guaranteed). He also has received a $400,000 signing bonus and can earn another $25,000 as a workout bonus by participating in the voluntary portion of the Chiefs’ offseason program.
Cochrane can earn $100,000 in game day active roster bonuses. Because he missed Kansas City’s final two regular-season contests after suffering a fractured ankle in Week 16, only 15 of the bonuses, totaling $88,235, will actually count on the 2025 cap.
All told, Cochrane can earn $2.1 million this season. The move saves about $1.2 million from the Chiefs’ current offseason cap.
With this move, we estimate that with 75 players signed, we estimate that the Chiefs are about $13.6 million under the salary cap.
