Brett Veach and the Kansas City Chiefs front office have been incredibly active this offseason, locking up several of their top players on long-term deals. In the last week, Brett Veach has signed both George Karlaftis and Trey Smith to four-year extensions worth a total of $187 million. They have also dealt out significant extensions to Creed Humphrey, Noah Gray, and Nick Bolton. Now the organization will shift its focus to another defensive superstar, Trent McDuffie.
In the 2022 NFL draft, the Chiefs had two first-round picks and one of the worst defenses in football. Brett Veach got aggressive, trading up for Trent McDuffie and then grabbing the aforementioned George Karlaftis at pick 30. With his draft mate already extended, McDuffie is next on the list of players who will look for a big extension after his incredible first three seasons in the NFL.
McDuffie has been dominant since he arrived in Kansas City and is widely recognized as one of the best corners in the NFL. An extension will not be cheap, especially with other top young corners like Sauce Gardner, Derek Stingley Jr, Jaycee Horn, and Patrick Surtain II getting extensions that made them the top five highest-paid players at the position.
You can expect that Trent McDuffie and his camp will be asking for a contract that is approximately four years and has an APY of ~$30 million. The truth is, McDuffie has proven that he is worth every penny of a contract like that, but the question becomes… Can the Chiefs afford to make another investment of that magnitude?
Trent McDuffie May Get Squeezed Out by the Chiefs in Contract Negotiations
Over the last several years, the Chiefs have easily been the best team in the NFL at developing corners. Charvarius Ward, Jaylen Watson, and L’Jarius Sneed are just a few examples of the incredible development we have seen from the Chiefs’ DB staff.
McDuffie is just the most recent example of a Chiefs corner that has broken out, but will that help him or hurt him in his negotiations? It is likely Brett Veach is confident in the team’s ability to develop cornerback talent and may be hesitant to invest significant funds in the secondary.
We have already seen hesitancy from the front office last offseason, when they elected to tag and trade top CB L’Jarius Sneed. Sneed was once a fourth-round pick out of LA Tech who quickly became one of, if not the best, cornerbacks in the NFL. Sneed wound up getting a four-year deal worth just $19 million APY, significantly less than what everyone expected.
Kansas City’s hesitance to sign Sneed may be a bad sign for McDuffie, who will be demanding significantly more. The Chiefs’ DB room will have a lot of spots up for grabs, with Jaylen Watson and Joshua Williams hitting free agency in 2026 and then McDuffie and Fulton hitting in 2027.
The Chiefs picked up McDuffie’s fifth-year option for 2026 and will have a few options for him going forward:
1 – The Chiefs could sign him to a big, long-term deal, but with them being strapped for cash after a few other big deals, this feels unlikely to happen this offseason.
2 – The team could look to trade McDuffie next offseason before he hits free agency and try to get some draft capital for him prior to him being a free agent.
3 – They could let it play out, letting McDuffie play on the fifth-year option and then tagging/extending him in the 2027 offseason.
Either way, the recent effort made by the Chiefs’ front office has been impactful in more ways than one. They have prioritized the trenches, locking down top offensive and defensive linemen for the next four to five years, which I would argue is in the team’s best interest. But the reality is, contract negotiations with McDuffie and his camp have become significantly more complicated this offseason.
