Jack Cochrane was a good bet to be back with the Kansas City Chiefs in the 2025 season for multiple reasons. Thus, it wasn’t much of a surprise to see Chiefs general manager Brett Veach officially bring the linebacker back with hisannounced re-signing this week.
The Chiefs had already placed a restricted free agent tender on Cochrane, giving them the chance to match any free agent offer for him.
The amount of the RFA qualifying offer did raise eyebrows at the time in mid-March, given its $3.2 million amount. However, that just allowed the Chiefs to secure the right of first refusal for Cochrane without any guaranteed money. The official contract for Cochrane will likely be significantly less, just as it was for fellow RFA Nazeeh Johnson with more in guarantees to make the deal better for all parties.
Dave Toub will be pleased with the latest Chiefs re-signing of Jack Cochrane.
Cochrane completes the predicted picture at linebacker for the Chiefs, who also found a way to bring back free agent Nick Bolton on a long-term deal. With Drue Tranquill already under contract as a previous FA signing and Leo Chenal entering his contract year, Kansas City will have a very familiar core in the second-level of the defense.
Cochrane has played his way into an overlooked but vital role on the Chiefs’ roster as a core special teams player who has been in on 80 percent of all S/T plays in the last two seasons. Last year, he missed time with an ankle injury and missed the postseason as well, but he still earned 188 snaps on defense as well—making him a bit more important than most fans might realize in Chiefs Kingdom.
The Chiefs added Cochrane in 2022 as a free agent rookie out of South Dakota, which means he’s coming into his his final year of team control. While Cochrane isn’t going to break the bank next offseason in free agency, if he can stay healthy, he should have no problem finding a home as a role player with championship experience for another team—or it might be easy to convince Dave Toub and the Chiefs to bring him back.
