{"id":42664,"date":"2025-03-13T14:43:21","date_gmt":"2025-03-13T14:43:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/?p=42664"},"modified":"2025-03-13T14:44:01","modified_gmt":"2025-03-13T14:44:01","slug":"shocking-chiefs-prioritize-homegrown-talent-with-an-unexpected-blockbuster-deal-putting-lb-nick-bolton-in-a-tough-spot-before-free-agency","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/?p=42664","title":{"rendered":"SHOCKING: Chiefs prioritize homegrown talent with an unexpected blockbuster deal, putting LB Nick Bolton in a tough spot before free agency!"},"content":{"rendered":"<article><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/gamenood.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/482201605_987232950166760_686392272058278860_n.jpg\" alt=\"SHOCKING: Chiefs prioritize homegrown talent with an unexpected blockbuster deal, putting LB Nick Bolton in a tough spot before free agency!-namnguyen123\" \/>The\u00a0Kansas City Chiefs\u00a0have made another move to retain one of their own ahead of the 2025 NFL free agency period.According to NFL Network\u2019s Ian Rapoport, the Chiefs have agreed on a three-year $45M deal with LB Nick Bolton, including $30M fully guaranteed.\u00a0After the franchise tag went on RG Trey Smith, Bolton was a clear offseason priority for Kansas City\u00a0and\u00a0joins Hollywood Brown as the latest pending free agent to re-sign with the team.<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/gamenood.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/z6394261942050_b6d659b40964e579f33247f69c29a3ba.jpg\" alt=\"SHOCKING: Chiefs prioritize homegrown talent with an unexpected blockbuster deal, putting LB Nick Bolton in a tough spot before free agency!-namnguyen123\" \/><\/p>\n<p>A former second-round pick out of Mizzou in the 2021 NFL draft, Bolton has been a starting middle linebacker in Kansas City since early in his career, appearing in 57 regular-season games with 53 starts. He\u2019s probably the most successful player they\u2019ve had at the position since Derrick Johnson.<\/p>\n<p>The 24-year-old has recorded 458 total tackles, 32 tackles for loss, five sacks, four interceptions, two forced fumbles, three fumble recoveries, 15 passes defended and one defensive touchdown. In the postseason, he has 102 combined tackles, five tackles for loss, two fumble recoveries, two passes defended, and another defensive touchdown. He\u2019s a two-time Super Bowl champion.<\/p>\n<p>Staying in Kansas City is\u00a0exactly what Bolton wanted from the 2025 offseason. Although his game has some clear limitations, he has Steve Spagnuolo\u2019s trust and respect and has proven to be adept at making big plays in big moments. Retaining him likely means the Chiefs won\u2019t be shopping for free-agent linebackers, but they could still look to the draft with Drue Tranquill and Leo Chenal set to be pending free agents in 2026.<\/p>\n<\/article>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The\u00a0Kansas City Chiefs\u00a0have made another move to retain one of their own ahead of the 2025 NFL free agency period.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":42665,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-42664","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>SHOCKING: Chiefs prioritize homegrown talent with an unexpected blockbuster deal, putting LB Nick Bolton in a tough spot before free agency! - 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=42664\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"SHOCKING: Chiefs prioritize homegrown talent with an unexpected blockbuster deal, putting LB Nick Bolton in a tough spot before free agency! - News 365\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The\u00a0Kansas City Chiefs\u00a0have made another move to retain one of their own ahead of the 2025 NFL free agency period.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/?p=42664\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"News 365\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-03-13T14:43:21+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-03-13T14:44:01+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/638773030935558228-864x1024.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"864\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1024\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\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=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/?p=42664\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/?p=42664\",\"name\":\"SHOCKING: Chiefs prioritize homegrown talent with an unexpected blockbuster deal, putting LB Nick Bolton in a tough spot before free agency! - News 365\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/?p=42664#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/?p=42664#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/638773030935558228.png\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-03-13T14:43:21+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-03-13T14:44:01+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/#\/schema\/person\/4b0ce8eb15dad4ee0f31887a7eb66fb6\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/?p=42664#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/?p=42664\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/?p=42664#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/638773030935558228.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/638773030935558228.png\",\"width\":1080,\"height\":1280},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/?p=42664#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"SHOCKING: Chiefs prioritize homegrown talent with an unexpected blockbuster deal, putting LB Nick Bolton in a tough spot before free agency!\"}]},{\"@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":"SHOCKING: Chiefs prioritize homegrown talent with an unexpected blockbuster deal, putting LB Nick Bolton in a tough spot before free agency! - 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=42664","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"SHOCKING: Chiefs prioritize homegrown talent with an unexpected blockbuster deal, putting LB Nick Bolton in a tough spot before free agency! - News 365","og_description":"The\u00a0Kansas City Chiefs\u00a0have made another move to retain one of their own ahead of the 2025 NFL free agency period.","og_url":"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/?p=42664","og_site_name":"News 365","article_published_time":"2025-03-13T14:43:21+00:00","article_modified_time":"2025-03-13T14:44:01+00:00","og_image":[{"width":864,"height":1024,"url":"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/638773030935558228-864x1024.png","type":"image\/png"}],"author":"MrLuu","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"MrLuu","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/?p=42664","url":"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/?p=42664","name":"SHOCKING: Chiefs prioritize homegrown talent with an unexpected blockbuster deal, putting LB Nick Bolton in a tough spot before free agency! - News 365","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/?p=42664#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/?p=42664#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/638773030935558228.png","datePublished":"2025-03-13T14:43:21+00:00","dateModified":"2025-03-13T14:44:01+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/#\/schema\/person\/4b0ce8eb15dad4ee0f31887a7eb66fb6"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/?p=42664#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/?p=42664"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/?p=42664#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/638773030935558228.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/638773030935558228.png","width":1080,"height":1280},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/?p=42664#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"SHOCKING: Chiefs prioritize homegrown talent with an unexpected blockbuster deal, putting LB Nick Bolton in a tough spot before free agency!"}]},{"@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\/42664","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=42664"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42664\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":42668,"href":"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42664\/revisions\/42668"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/42665"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=42664"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=42664"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=42664"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}