{"id":38319,"date":"2025-03-01T04:18:20","date_gmt":"2025-03-01T04:18:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/?p=38319"},"modified":"2025-03-01T04:18:20","modified_gmt":"2025-03-01T04:18:20","slug":"chiefs-upcoming-28-million-decision-could-cause-future-problem","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/?p=38319","title":{"rendered":"Chiefs&#8217; Upcoming $28 Million Decision Could Cause Future &#8216;Problem&#8217;"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"post-featured-container-id\">\n<div id=\"post-featured\">\n<div>\n<figure><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/Trent-McDuffie-e1740797708164.jpg?quality=65&amp;strip=all&amp;w=780\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 820px) 95vw, 780px\" srcset=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/Trent-McDuffie-e1740797708164.jpg?quality=65&amp;strip=all&amp;w=780 780w, https:\/\/heavy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/Trent-McDuffie-e1740797708164.jpg?quality=15&amp;strip=all&amp;w=1100 1100w, https:\/\/heavy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/Trent-McDuffie-e1740797708164.jpg?quality=35&amp;strip=all&amp;w=1350 1350w\" alt=\"Chiefs' Upcoming $28 Million Decision Could Cause Future 'Problem'\" width=\"780\" height=\"440\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p>Getty<\/p>\n<p>Kansas City Chiefs cornerback Trent McDuffie&#8217;s fifth-year option decision date is coming up this offseason.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>Kansas City Chiefs general manager Brett Veach must be mindful of every dollar he spends this offseason, especially when it comes to contracts that stretch into the future.<\/p>\n<p>Two of those future contract decisions are coming up in early May, being that the Chiefs must settle on whether or not they are picking up the fifth-year options of former first-round selections Trent McDuffie and George Karlaftis by May 2. NFL Network insider Tom Pelissero revealed the fifth-year option amounts on February 28.<\/p>\n<p>Per Chiefs Digest beat reporter Matt Derrick, KC lucked out a bit on McDuffie\u2019s final projection due to his lack of Pro Bowl appearances.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cEven though Trent McDuffie has been named All-Pro twice, he\u2019s never been a Pro Bowl selection,\u201d Derrick noted. \u201cHis fifth-year option will be $13.632 million for 2026. If he\u2019d been named to the Pro Bowl twice, it would be $20.187 million.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>That\u2019s helpful, being that the Chiefs will also have to pay $15.196 million for Karlaftis\u2019 fifth-year option in 2026 according to Pelissero\u2019s press release. For clarity, Karlaftis will make more than McDuffie because his position is valued higher by the league, despite both players falling into the same group (players who \u201cachieve playtime criterion\u201d but no Pro Bowls).<\/p>\n<p>Either way, it creates a situation where Veach and the Chiefs will likely be budgeting in a combined $28.828 million into their finances in 2026 \u2014 being that McDuffie and Karlaftis are near-locks to get their options picked up.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat\u2019s a problem when draft picks like Bryan Cook, Leo Chenal, Joshua Williams, Jaylen Watson, Isiah Pacheco, and Nazeeh Johnson are also slated for free agency in 2026,\u201d A-to-Z Sports Kansas City reporter Charles Goldman reacted while urging the Chiefs to try and work out early extensions for both McDuffie and Karlaftis.<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<h2>Chiefs Extending Trent McDuffie &amp; George Karlaftis Early in 2025 Would Help Solve 2026 Cap Issue<\/h2>\n<p>The downside of a tremendous draft class is that you eventually have to pay everyone at the same time. The Chiefs can get ahead of that a little bit by extending the first two members of their loaded 2022 class \u2014 but that\u2019s not the only reason to work out extensions for McDuffie and Karlaftis.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNot worried because the Chiefs front office is very smart, but I hope someone learned strong from Brandt Tillis [because the] 2026 cap hits not playing around,\u201d Arrowhead Pride writer Jared Sapp pointed out last March. Listing: \u201c[Patrick] Mahomes: $63.3 million, [Chris] Jones: $41.1 million, Karlaftis and McDuffie possibly on fifth year options.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Sapp\u2019s foresight was commendable here, as that future is now coming to fruition. Only, Mahomes\u2019 2026 cap hit has actually risen to $68.665 million following recent restructures.<\/p>\n<p>The Chiefs can continue to kick the can down the road on Mahomes\u2019 cap hits \u2014 and likely will \u2014 but it doesn\u2019t change the fact that Veach has his work cut out for him in 2026. With that in mind, extending McDuffie and Karlaftis will help free up more cap space next year, while also rewarding each player for their contributions.<\/p>\n<p>For these reasons, long-term commitments feel like a no-brainer when it comes to these two core pieces on the defensive side.<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<h2>Chiefs GM Brett Veach Says Trent McDuffie &amp; George Karlaftis Extensions Are on KC\u2019s To-Do List<\/h2>\n<p>Fortunately, the forward-thinking Chiefs GM appears to be on top of this situation, as usual.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYeah, that\u2019ll be on the list of things to do,\u201d Veach told reporters at the NFL Combine after being asked about potential McDuffie and Karlaftis extensions.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe\u2019ll get through, obviously, this phase here,\u201d he continued. \u201cWe\u2019ll get with the agents on the pending free agents and put a free agency plan together, and then I would anticipate getting through the draft, and then having the summer to work with. But certainly, those are two really good players, and I\u2019d like to get those guys \u2014 hopefully \u2014 done, if possible. But we\u2019ll certainly have dialogue, if not before the draft, right after the draft.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>This will be a situation to monitor as the 2025 offseason progresses.<\/p>\n<p>Michael Obermuller covers the NFL and NHL for Heavy.com, where he began writing in 2021. His areas of focus include the Kansas City Chiefs, New York Giants, Pittsburgh Steelers and Miami Dolphins, as well as the New York Rangers and New York Islanders. An NYC area native and Quinnipiac graduate, his previous bylines include FanDuel&#8217;s The Duel, King Fantasy Sports and Pro Football Mania. More about Michael Obermuller<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Kansas City Chiefs must make a pair of decisions on fifth-year options in 2025, and those choices may impact the following NFL offseason.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":38320,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-38319","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nfl"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.7 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Chiefs&#039; Upcoming $28 Million Decision Could Cause Future &#039;Problem&#039; - News 365<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/?p=38319\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Chiefs&#039; Upcoming $28 Million Decision Could Cause Future &#039;Problem&#039; - News 365\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The Kansas City Chiefs must make a pair of decisions on fifth-year options in 2025, and those choices may impact the following NFL offseason.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/?p=38319\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"News 365\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-03-01T04:18:20+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/Thiet-ke-chua-co-ten-3.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1000\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1000\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"MrLuu\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"MrLuu\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/?p=38319\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/?p=38319\",\"name\":\"Chiefs' Upcoming $28 Million Decision Could Cause Future 'Problem' - News 365\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/?p=38319#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/?p=38319#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/Thiet-ke-chua-co-ten-3.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-03-01T04:18:20+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-03-01T04:18:20+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/#\/schema\/person\/4b0ce8eb15dad4ee0f31887a7eb66fb6\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/?p=38319#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/?p=38319\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/?p=38319#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/Thiet-ke-chua-co-ten-3.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/Thiet-ke-chua-co-ten-3.jpg\",\"width\":1000,\"height\":1000},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/?p=38319#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Chiefs&#8217; Upcoming $28 Million Decision Could Cause Future &#8216;Problem&#8217;\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/\",\"name\":\"News 365\",\"description\":\"Your Daily Dose of Sports News and Updates\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/#\/schema\/person\/4b0ce8eb15dad4ee0f31887a7eb66fb6\",\"name\":\"MrLuu\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/27290e42aedd9867dbebe2f5dbfd5135e0d4cac63c12fabb4e8d0e4472737a5b?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/27290e42aedd9867dbebe2f5dbfd5135e0d4cac63c12fabb4e8d0e4472737a5b?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"MrLuu\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/?author=6\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Chiefs' Upcoming $28 Million Decision Could Cause Future 'Problem' - News 365","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/?p=38319","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Chiefs' Upcoming $28 Million Decision Could Cause Future 'Problem' - News 365","og_description":"The Kansas City Chiefs must make a pair of decisions on fifth-year options in 2025, and those choices may impact the following NFL offseason.","og_url":"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/?p=38319","og_site_name":"News 365","article_published_time":"2025-03-01T04:18:20+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1000,"height":1000,"url":"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/Thiet-ke-chua-co-ten-3.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"MrLuu","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"MrLuu","Est. reading time":"1 minute"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/?p=38319","url":"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/?p=38319","name":"Chiefs' Upcoming $28 Million Decision Could Cause Future 'Problem' - News 365","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/?p=38319#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/?p=38319#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/Thiet-ke-chua-co-ten-3.jpg","datePublished":"2025-03-01T04:18:20+00:00","dateModified":"2025-03-01T04:18:20+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/#\/schema\/person\/4b0ce8eb15dad4ee0f31887a7eb66fb6"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/?p=38319#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/?p=38319"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/?p=38319#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/Thiet-ke-chua-co-ten-3.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/Thiet-ke-chua-co-ten-3.jpg","width":1000,"height":1000},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/?p=38319#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Chiefs&#8217; Upcoming $28 Million Decision Could Cause Future &#8216;Problem&#8217;"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/","name":"News 365","description":"Your Daily Dose of Sports News and Updates","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/#\/schema\/person\/4b0ce8eb15dad4ee0f31887a7eb66fb6","name":"MrLuu","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/27290e42aedd9867dbebe2f5dbfd5135e0d4cac63c12fabb4e8d0e4472737a5b?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/27290e42aedd9867dbebe2f5dbfd5135e0d4cac63c12fabb4e8d0e4472737a5b?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"MrLuu"},"url":"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/?author=6"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38319","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=38319"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38319\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":38321,"href":"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38319\/revisions\/38321"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/38320"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=38319"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=38319"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=38319"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}