The Kansas City Chiefs made things official with 2025 first-round pick Josh Simmons on May 6, announcing that the potential new franchise left tackle has signed his rookie contract.
The KC social media team also included a photo of Simmons putting pen to paper.
NFL Insider Shares Reported Contract Value of Josh Simmons’ Rookie Deal
It was first reported that Simmons and the Chiefs had come to terms on his rookie contract back on May 4. ESPN NFL insider Adam Schefter shared the news on X, along with the financials.
“Chiefs first-round pick Josh Simmons signed his four-year, fully-guaranteed contract worth $14,675,353, per his agents Drew Rosenhaus, Robert Bailey and Oliver Chell,” Schefter noted at the time.
That was likely an agreement, in principle. Now, a couple of days later, following the conclusion of rookie minicamp, the Chiefs and Simmons put pen to paper.
As is the case with all first-round rookie contracts, this will be a four-year commitment with a fifth-year option decision upcoming just before year four. Over the Cap has yet to publish Simmons’ 2025 cap hit, but if it’s anything like recent late-first-round picks, then it’ll be the combination of his guaranteed salary and his prorated signing bonus.
In 2023, Chiefs defensive end Felix Anudike-Uzomah was the 31st pick in the draft, just like Simmons. His rookie cap hit ended up coming out to $2,148,694, although the total value of his contract was less than Simmons’ due to yearly inflation.
Going one step further, last year’s 31st overall selection, San Francisco 49ers wide receiver Ricky Pearsall, had a rookie cap hit of $2,279,709. Expect Simmons’ 2025 cap hit to be a smidge higher than Pearsall’s, following the same trend.
Chiefs Should Stay Patient With Josh Simmons & Let Him Learn/Heal
The Chiefs have set themselves up nicely at left tackle. They signed veteran Jaylon Moore to be the Week 1 starter, and they should stick to that plan for the first half of the 2025 season.
Let Simmons’ body heal. But in another sense, it also never hurts to let a rookie sit back and watch.
That strategy worked tremendously for superstar quarterback Patrick Mahomes; why not Simmons?
In a dream scenario, Moore plays well and Jawaan Taylor holds down the fort at right tackle, allowing Simmons to redshirt year one. Then, in 2026, the Chiefs can decide if they’d prefer to move on from Moore as a starter or Taylor.
Keep in mind, Taylor’s contract is more prohibitive than Moore’s, and it would be very nice to get out of it.
The Chiefs can save $20 million in cap space by releasing Taylor in 2026, and it doesn’t matter when they release him. That’s $20 million more for free agency, or an important core extension.
So, there’s a real scenario where Kansas City enters the 2026 season with Moore and Simmons as their two bookends — assuming all goes well with Moore. If it doesn’t, it makes this whole conversation a lot simpler.
If Moore struggles, the Chiefs can move on from him midway through the 2025 campaign, once they deem Simmons is ready. KC very carefully signed Moore to a two-year contract this offseason, so there’s no long-term dead cap charge there.
In all likelihood, the Chiefs would just keep Moore for depth in 2026, but if they need the money, they could shed a cool $8 million by releasing him.
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