Arrowhead Pride
Kansas City’s newly-extended defensive end talked to the media on Tuesday.
Defensive end George Karlaftis is staying with the Kansas City Chiefs — exactly how he wanted it. On Sunday, the former Purdue star signed a four-year contract extension that keeps him with the team through the 2030 season.
“It was a great process — very respectful, I feel like — on both sides,” Karlaftis told reporters after the team’s first training camp practice on Tuesday. “I knew something was probably going to be done before camp — and I’m glad it did. I’m happy to be here for another how many years.”
There had been no doubt in Karlaftis’ mind that he wanted to stay with the team that drafted him in the first round of the 2022 NFL Draft.
“I’ve been vocal about how much I love it here,” he reminded his listeners. “I want to be here — and I’m going to be.”
The two-time Super Bowl champion believes he’s landed in exactly the right place: with head coach Andy Reid and a championship team.
“For me really, it starts with the team, Coach Reid, the guys, the locker room, everything about this organization from the top down,” he noted. “There’s no place I’d rather be.”
With his new contract in hand, Karlaftis is now becoming a mentor for rookie defensive end Ashton Gillotte — just like defensive tackle Chris Jones and former Kansas City defensive ends Frank Clark and Carlos Dunlap did for him during his rookie season.
“I’ve been fortunate enough to know Ashton for a couple of years now,“ he explained. “[I’m] working with him, trying to pass down the torch — kind of like Frank did [for] me — [along with] Carlos, Chris, all those guys that I had my rookie year. That’s really what it’s about.”
Karlaftis has reached the Super Bowl in every season of his NFL career — winning two out of three — but last year’s loss left a mark. With that experience at the top their minds, he and his teammates can use that to improve.
“As a team, speaking for everybody, we wanted to finish better,” he said. “We just wanted to finish our season better, so I think a lot of this offseason is going to be about finishing out games.
“We [were] really close to what we wanted to get. We obviously didn’t — and it’s going to be a motivator for this upcoming season.”
