Amazingly, one of them isn’t Kansas City quarterback Patrick Mahomes

On Tuesday, NFL.com researcher Anthony Holzman-Escareno published his “All-Paid Team” for 2025: the most highly-compensated NFL players at every position. Two Kansas City Chiefs made this season’s roster.

C Creed Humphrey · Kansas City Chiefs · 26 years old
Average per year: $18 million

The Chiefs wasted no time addressing their offensive line after it was dominated by the Buccaneers in Super Bowl LV, drafting Humphrey 63rd overall in 2021. In turn, he wasted no time becoming an elite player as the anchor of Kansas City’s front. Humphrey is one of only three centers in the Super Bowl era to have made the Pro Bowl in at least three of his first four seasons in the league, joining Travis Frederick and Maurkice Pouncey. Of that group, Humphrey is the only one with a Super Bowl ring (he has two). His four-year, $72 million deal ties him to Kansas City through the 2028 season.

DT Chris Jones · Kansas City Chiefs · 31 years old
Average per year: $31.8 million

After Jones sat out the 2023 opener due to a contract dispute, the Chiefs amended the deal to include an extra $6.75 million in incentives tied to playing time, performance and team results. He earned $4.25 million of that, was named first-team All-Pro again, and the Chiefs won Super Bowl LVIII. The following offseason, the Chiefs made Jones the lone interior defensive lineman to earn over $30 million in a season. Although he had his fewest sacks (5.0) since his 2016 rookie season (2.0) in 2024, those numbers far from accurately reflect Jones’ impact on the Chiefs defense. A first-team All-Pro for three straight seasons, Jones remains one of the league’s finest defensive forces.

My take

Holzman-Escareno isn’t arguing that either of these players is making too much. He’s actually saying just the opposite: both of them deserve the money they’re getting. Of course, there are plenty of NFL fans who would point out that as long as quarterback Patrick Mahomes is playing for Kansas City, the team cannot afford to have any other players leading the league at their positions.

But that argument has been overtaken by events. Mahomes’ $45 million in average annual value (or Spotrac AAV, which Holzman-Escareno is using for his calculations) now ranks 14th among NFL quarterbacks. While it is true that he is being paid $50 million this year (fourth-highest at the position), the structure of his contract allows the Chiefs to carry Mahomes at a cap hit of just $28 million, which also ranks 14th.

Likewise, Humphrey’s 2025 cap hit is $10.8 million, which is fourth among centers. That’s well below the AAV that Holzman-Escareno is using for his comparison — even though Humphrey is being paid even less than that this season: $7.8 million. Jones, however, has 2025 numbers pretty similar to his AAV: $28.9 million in total cash (ranking second among defensive tackles) and a cap hit of $23.6 million, which ranks fourth.

Holzman-Escareno is ignoring another position where a Kansas City player is leading the league in AAV. He considers right guard Trey Smith’s $23.4 million franchise tag contract as “ineligible” for this comparison. While it is still likely that Smith and the team will agree on a new contract that could have a higher (or lower) AAV before the July 15 deadline, he might end up playing on the tag anyway. If that happens, three Chiefs are likely to be leading the league in AAV this season.

That sounds bad — and in a sense, it is. As these details reveal, however, there are multiple ways to look at each contract — and all of them are valid from different perspectives. An NFL general manager has to find a way to satisfy the needs of each player (who wants as much cash and guaranteed money as they can get), the league (who requires each team to keep total cap hits below an ever-rising threshold) and the owner (who must always have enough cash on hand to pay all these players).

It’s not easy to do. But Kansas City general manager Brett Veach continues to find ways to make it all work.