How Chiefs DE Mike Danna's new contract impacts the salary cap for the next three years

The Kansas City Chiefs made their three-year deal with DE Mike Danna official on Wednesday. Danna became the first Brett Veach draft pick to re-sign with the team on a multi-year contract. 

As we know, in the NFL, contracts aren't always what they seem. That's the case with Danna's deal to remain in Kansas City. According to the folks at Over The Cap, the 27-year-old defensive end received a three-year deal with a total value of $24 million. He probably won't see that entire $24 million, however, given the structure of the contract. Only $13 million of the deal is fully guaranteed, and the vast majority of that money is paid out in the first two years of the contract. 

Over the contract's life, Danna will get a guaranteed $6.5 million prorated signing bonus, spread out equally over three years of the deal. For the 2024 NFL season, Danna will count $4.666 million against the salary cap. It leaves the Chiefs with around $19 million in cap space heading into the 2024 NFL draft. He'll get $2.250 million in base salary and $250K in workout bonus, totaling $2.5 million guaranteed on the year. 

Fast forward to the 2025 NFL season, and Danna's salary cap hit nearly doubles, ballooning to $8.166 million (3.9% of the total projected salary cap for the team that year). His guaranteed salary is $4.25 million for that year. 

During the 2026 NFL season, Danna will have no more fully guaranteed salary. He'll count $11.166 million against the salary cap, which isn't sustainable unless he vastly transcends his current level of play. The Chiefs will likely cut Danna for salary cap purposes in 2026. They'll be on the hook for $2.666 million in prorated signing bonus in terms of dead money, but they'll save $9 million in cap space by releasing him. 

Ahead of the 2023 NFL free agency period, A to Z Sports' Josh Queipo and Kyle DeDiminicantanio projected that Danna would earn a two-year contract worth up to $19.0 million, averaging $9.5 million per year, with $12.5 million in guaranteed money. They were right on the mark because this will effectively be a two-year $13 million deal when it's all said and done. 

Danna is coming off of a career year in 2023, with 50 total tackles, 6.5 sacks and 41 pressures on the year.