The Kansas City Chiefs begin their mandatory minicamp on Tuesday. We learned on Monday that they will have their entire rookie class under contract when practice gets underway.
Although the Chiefs quickly signed five of their seven draft picks, cornerback Mansoor Delane and defensive tackle Peter Woods — their pair of first round selections — remained unsigned to start the week. With all first-round contracts fully guaranteed over four years, there is little to actually negotiate. For the Chiefs,
a tight salary cap situation likely caused the delay in inking the duo.
After defensive end George Karlaftis saw his contract restructured last month, it seemed only a matter of time before the rookies officially signed.
On Monday morning, ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported the team had signed Woods, taken with the 29th overall selection of April’s draft, to a four-year contract worth about $18 million. The insider also noted that Woods had secured a favorable portion of his signing bonus paid upfront.
The Chiefs were not done.
NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport quickly added that the team had also agreed to terms with Delane — whom they traded up to No. 6 overall to select. The cornerback’s rookie contract will be worth $41.9 million over four seasons.
The contract website Spotrac has estimated signing bonuses and first year salary cap charges for all drafted rookies. Woods is projected to count just under $3.3 million against the 2026 cap. Delane is predicted to count about $7.6 million against the limit.
We project that the Chiefs will be about $4.3 million under the salary cap once both contracts are accounted for.
