The Kansas City Chiefs will likely be releasing Jawaan Taylor, their starting right tackle, before the start of the new league year, ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported Monday.

Taylor has a $27 million cap hit in 2026. The Chiefs will save $20 million just by getting rid of him.  Despite signing a 4-year deal just two seasons ago, the price tag was too big to justify keeping him.

His performance is also another reason why releasing him makes sense. Taylor ranked 80th out of 89 tackles graded at PFF last season. He’s also battled injuries over the last two years, and is among the most penalized offensive linemen in the NFL.

The 29-year-old has started 45 games since joining the Chiefs, but he missed the last five weeks of the 2025 season due to a shoulder injury. With Taylor gone, this also creates a unique position for the Chiefs: they have the 9th overall pick in the NFL draft this year, which would be a perfect position for them to draft an offensive linemen, in what is a heavy class for the trenches.

They also could take the Cleveland Browns route, and trade low draft capital for OL help (Cleveland acquired former first rounder Tytus Howard from the Texans today for just a fifth round pick.

What makes their situation different from other teams is just the fact that they are still dealing with cap issues, albeit not as bad. They previously released Michael Danna, saving $8.8 million, they restructured Patrick Mahomes‘ contract, and not now moving on from Taylor gives general manager Brett Veach a bigger chunk of money to work with this offseason.