[Topeka Capital-Journal] How do you meet a budget when you don’t know the bottom line?

That’s the dilemma facing the Kansas City Chiefs and other NFL teams who must meet a salary cap limit today despite not knowing what that number was as of Wednesday.

The NFL’s failure Wednesday to extend its collective bargaining agreement with its players union — a move that could have increased the salary cap to $100 million or more — meant the clubs could be looking at a limit of as low as $92 million.

That’s bad news for the Chiefs, who reportedly had 2006 salary obligations of $120 million before they began budget-cutting negotiations.

Chiefs president Carl Peterson confirmed Wednesday that the team had approached “less than 10 players” seeking renegotiations of their 2006 contracts. Some agreed to cap-friendly restructuring or playing for less money. Others who didn’t will be released today when the team faces a 3 p.m. league deadline.

Peterson declined to identify any of the players involved but said the club was prepared to meet what he called “a worst-case scenario” of a $92 million ceiling — a figure the league projected in December.

“We’ve made the hard decision to say goodbye to some people, though I haven’t had the chance to talk to all of them yet,” Peterson said, adding that the decisions were based on performance and cap considerations.

Among the ’06 Chiefs considered possible cap casualties are linebacker Kendrell Bell, who has a $7.2 million cap number this year, injured running back Priest Holmes ($5.3 million), guard Will Shields ($6.6 million), linebacker Shawn Barber ($4.7 million), starting cornerback Eric Warfield ($4.2 million cap number) and reserve corner Dexter McCleon ($2.77 million).