Kansas City, Mo. ? The Kansas City Chiefs on Thursday cut four players to get under the salary cap, and then stepped back and regrouped just like everybody else in the NFL.

Shortly after announcing they were at an impasse with the players union, prompting a mass dumping of players, the owners announced they had extended the start of the free-agent signing period.

As a result, the period will not start until late Sunday. And all players who were terminated Thursday for cap reasons could be pulled back at the clubs’ discretion if a labor agreement is reached that raises the cap.

So hanging in limbo for a few more days will be Chiefs’ linebackers Gary Stills and Shawn Barber and cornerbacks Eric Warfield and Dexter McCleon.

“I guess that’s what the NFL is. It’s always about change and we certainly have had some changes the past few weeks, few days, few hours,” said Chiefs president and general manager Carl Peterson.

Kansas City, which spent lavishly on free agents in an effort to upgrade its defense last year, is believed to be about $15 million to $20 million over the cap.

Peterson, speaking from the East Coast where he had been taking part in the owners’ meeting, said the Chiefs still had many moves to make.

Yet undecided is the fate of 11-time Pro Bowl guard Will Shields, who has one year left on his contract but has had health issues the past few years and could save a lot of cap money. A decision also must be made regarding running back Priest Holmes, who is rehabbing the neck injury that shelved him for the last nine games of 2005.

Peterson also has been talking with several players about restructuring their contracts to make them more cap-friendly.