The Kansas City Chiefs' magical run ended in 2025. Not only did they fail to reach the AFC Championship Game for the first time in the Patrick Mahomes era, but they couldn't even make the playoffs.
Considering that, GM Brett Veach will have to work around the clock to make sure his superstar quarterback has the supporting cast he needs to bounce back next season. That includes doing some financial juggling to clear the books, and also moving on from underperforming players. Both of those things are terrible news for Jawaan Taylor.
Moving on From Jawaan Taylor is a No-Brainer Move for the Chiefs
As things stand now, there's literally no reason to keep Taylor around, other than Andy Reid's unwavering support for him. From a football standpoint, he hasn't done anything to justify his steep salary, and financial reasons are even more obvious.
According to Over The Cap, the Chiefs are $54.91 million over the salary cap, the highest mark in the league. Every penny will count, and Taylor is going to have a massive cap hit of $27.39 million, the third-highest on the team behind Mahomes and Chris Jones.
Cutting him, however, would free up a whopping $20 million with a dead cap hit of just over $7 million, regardless of whether they do it before or after June 1. The same would happen with a trade, although it's hard to imagine anyone would be interested in the 28-year-old right tackle.
Taylor closed out the season on Injured Reserve after hurting his ankle and elbow. He's only under contract for another season, and after drawing double-digits in penalties in every single season he's been in Missouri, not many teams will be lining up to make a run at him.
The Chiefs could simply slide Jaylon Moore to right tackle next season, which is what they did to close out the year. They have their left tackle of the future in Josh Simmons, and they can't afford to have Taylor constantly giving up yards and forcing the offense to walk backwards because of all of his pre-snap penalties.
Taylor's Pro Football Focus overall grade (53.3) ranked 80th among 89 eligible players, and he was the second-worst offensive tackle in the league in terms of run-blocking (43.8). He's given up an average of 40.1 pressures per season as a Chief, and with Mahomes coming off the first serious injury of his career, this team can't afford to have him running into collapsed pockets and playing behind a mediocre offensive line, especially at that price.