Arrowhead Pride
Time flies when the draft class is good.
Certain phrases stick with you. In football, one of my favorite phrases comes from the late, great Terez Paylor.
That phrase signifies that often, when a player is in the last year of their contract, they have a career year before they have an opportunity to get paid. There are countless examples of this happening.
Even recently, you could look at right guard Trey Smith for the Chiefs. Smith was in a contract year last season and played the best football in his career. Because of that season, Smith was franchise-tagged and is now negotiating a contract that might make him the highest-paid guard in the league.
With contract years, it’s typically associated with rookie contract players about to get paid for the first time. Since NFL careers are so short, there’s no guarantee you get two long-term deals in the league. The second contract is the most important to maximize, as it takes you through most of your athletic prime.
For the Chiefs, their 2022 draft class is now entering its contract year. It’s fair to expect some of them to have their best seasons. The question is: which ones will it be? Let’s go through the draft class and discuss each player:
Note: Offensive lineman Darian Kennard was cut and doesn’t qualify for this.
If we’re being honest, there is nothing McDuffie should have to prove in a contract year. McDuffie has played at a top-five level for each of his three seasons in the NFL. He’s a versatile and dominant player from both the slot and outside. He’s turning 25 this season and has been healthy. There’s no excuse not to pay him. In fact, the Chiefs should probably find a way to do it this offseason.
McDuffie will likely have the best contract year of this group, but that’s an easy answer, so let’s move on.
With Karlaftis and McDuffie, the fifth-year option looms as a possibility. Karlaftis would make $15.2 million on the fifth-year option, which might prove to be a bargain by next offseason.
Because that $15.2 million is a high cap hit, the Chiefs could look to extend him next offseason to lower that. If that’s the case, Karlaftis’s season becomes super important. Due to the necessity and market for pass rushers, Karlaftis could be in line for a massive bag if he has a career year. Karlaftis is only 24 right now and has played three good seasons already. If he takes another jump, he could be due to get a similar extension earned by Buffalo Bills defensive end Gregory Rousseau (4 years, $80 million, $54 million guaranteed).
Karlaftis probably has the biggest swing in what he could make depending on his output in 2025.
This one is sadly a lost cause. The Chiefs have moved on from having Moore be a significant part of their team. There’s no real...
