{"id":75756,"date":"2025-07-03T09:21:23","date_gmt":"2025-07-03T09:21:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/?p=75756"},"modified":"2025-07-03T09:21:42","modified_gmt":"2025-07-03T09:21:42","slug":"10-biggest-questions-which-2022-draft-pick-has-the-best-contract-year","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/?p=75756","title":{"rendered":"10 Biggest Questions: Which 2022 draft pick has the best contract year?"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"WR<\/p>\n

Certain phrases stick with you. In football, one of my favorite phrases comes from the late, great Terez Paylor.<\/p>\n

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Ford just secured the bag, folks. He\u2019s agreed to a five-year deal worth $87.5 million, a source confirms.<\/p>\n

And the contract year, my friends, remains undefeated.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

https:\/\/twitter.com\/TerezPaylor\/status\/1105636433719709700?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1105636433719709700%7Ctwgr%5Ed8b15d93f68f62e795839e40cb945b132bb37b6f%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.arrowheadpride.com%2F2025%2F7%2F2%2F24460186%2F10-biggest-questions-which-2022-draft-pick-has-the-best-contract-year<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n

That phrase signifies that often, when a player is in the last year of their contract, they have a career year before they have an opportunity to get paid. There are countless examples of this happening.<\/p>\n

Even recently, you could look at right guard Trey Smith for the Chiefs. Smith was in a contract year last season and played the best football in his career. Because of that season, Smith was franchise-tagged and is now negotiating a contract that might make him the highest-paid guard in the league.<\/p>\n

With contract years, it\u2019s typically associated with rookie contract players about to get paid for the first time. Since NFL careers are so short, there\u2019s no guarantee you get two long-term deals in the league. The second contract is the most important to maximize, as it takes you through most of your athletic prime.<\/p>\n

For the Chiefs, their 2022 draft class is now entering its contract year. It\u2019s fair to expect some of them to have their best seasons. The question is: which ones will it be? Let\u2019s go through the draft class and discuss each player:<\/p>\n

Note<\/strong><\/em>: Offensive lineman Darian Kennard was cut and doesn\u2019t qualify for this.<\/em><\/p>\n

Cornerback Trent McDuffie<\/strong><\/h2>\n

If we\u2019re being honest, there is nothing McDuffie should have to prove in a contract year. McDuffie has played at a top-five level for each of his three seasons in the NFL. He\u2019s a versatile and dominant player from both the slot and outside. He\u2019s turning 25 this season and has been healthy. There\u2019s no excuse not to pay him. In fact, the Chiefs should probably find a way to do it this offseason.<\/p>\n

McDuffie will likely have the best contract year of this group, but that\u2019s an easy answer, so let\u2019s move on.<\/p>\n

Defensive end George Karlaftis<\/strong><\/h2>\n

With Karlaftis and McDuffie, the fifth-year option looms as a possibility. Karlaftis would make $15.2 million on the fifth-year option, which might prove to be a bargain by next offseason.<\/p>\n

Because that $15.2 million is a high cap hit, the Chiefs could look to extend him next offseason to lower that. If that\u2019s the case, Karlaftis\u2019s season becomes super important. Due to the necessity and market for pass rushers, Karlaftis could be in line for a massive bag if he has a career year. Karlaftis is only 24 right now and has played three good seasons already. If he takes another jump, he could be due to get a similar extension earned by Buffalo Bills defensive end Gregory Rousseau (4 years, $80 million, $54 million guaranteed).<\/p>\n

Karlaftis probably has the biggest swing in what he could make depending on his output in 2025.<\/p>\n

Wide receiver Skyy Moore<\/strong><\/h2>\n

This one is sadly a lost cause. The Chiefs have moved on from having Moore be a significant part of their team. There\u2019s no real path to playing time to get him paid.<\/p>\n

Safety Bryan Cook<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Cook is a decent candidate to get paid in free agency. Cook hasn\u2019t played great in the NFL so far, but young safeties in their primes get paid. Safety Trevon Moerhig just signed a three-year, $51 million deal this offseason. If Cook can show more ball production and tackling this season, he could get paid.<\/p>\n

However, that would require a massive leap from him. Cook has somewhat of a JAG<\/em> (just a guy) on this defense for two seasons, which isn\u2019t great for his prospects of getting paid.<\/p>\n

Linebacker Leo Chenal<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Of all these players, this one fascinates me the most. Chenal is such an interesting player. His strengths \u2014 his blitzing, ability to hold and plug a gap, take on blocks \u2014 are all 99th percentile. The issue with Chenal is that he\u2019s limited in every other way.<\/p>\n

Now, if Chenal can show more development in the other aspects of his game, teams could buy his upside. There are defenses around the league that weaponize players with his skill set, but he needs to show more as a traditional linebacker. He will struggle to get paid if he can only play 30-40% of snaps. Chenal\u2019s going to have to prove that he’s able to play more snaps.<\/p>\n

Cornerback Joshua Williams<\/strong><\/h2>\n

With the addition of Kristian Fulton and Nohl Williams, it seems impossible for Williams to get snaps this season. I wonder if the Chiefs will look to trade him before the season.<\/p>\n

Cornerback Jaylen Watson<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Cornerback is typically a bad position to sign in free agency, so if Watson has a fantastic season, teams will want to sign a cornerback with his length and ball skills in his prime. Watson’s play is important because of the volatile state of the cornerback position. If he has a bad year, he won\u2019t get paid. If he has a career year, someone will pay him well.<\/p>\n

Running back Isiah Pacheco<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Pacheco\u2019s upcoming season is super important to getting paid. There are only 32 starting running back jobs in the league. Pacheco is in the bottom half of starting running backs in the league. If his play doesn\u2019t return closer to what it was when he was a rookie, he could struggle finding a good opportunity to get paid and receive carries.<\/p>\n

However, if he puts it together, he could get paid. Pacheco has proven to be a good playoff player, so if he can combine that with a strong regular season, I could see a team loving his skillset and passion and pay him.<\/p>\n

Cornerback Nazeeh Johnson<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Johnson is in an even worse spot than Williams to get snaps. The Chiefs are just too deep at cornerback for Johnson to get a chance.<\/p>\n

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Time flies when the draft class is good.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":75757,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-75756","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nfl"],"yoast_head":"\n10 Biggest Questions: Which 2022 draft pick has the best contract year? - 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=75756\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"10 Biggest Questions: Which 2022 draft pick has the best contract year? - News 365\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Time flies when the draft class is good.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/?p=75756\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"News 365\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-07-03T09:21:23+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-07-03T09:21:42+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/chies2.webp\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1440\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"810\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/webp\" \/>\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=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/?p=75756\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/?p=75756\",\"name\":\"10 Biggest Questions: Which 2022 draft pick has the best contract year? 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