Why Chiefs are likely to get ‘Mr. Irrelevant’ draft pick in 2025 — and what that means
The Kansas City Chiefs were awarded two compensatory picks in the 2025 NFL Draft on Tuesday.
And in the process, they also were given rights to 2025’s “Mr. Irrelevant.”
KC will now have pick Nos. 251 and 257 in the seventh round of the upcoming 2025 NFL Draft in Green Bay, Wisconsin. That 257th selection also happens to be the last one in the draft, with that player earning the title of “Mr. Irrelevant” as the NFL Draft’s final pick.
That person gets quite a bit of hubbub. Former NFL player Paul Salata started a tradition to celebrate “Mr. Irrelevant” in 1976 while inviting that person each year to a weeklong event in Newport Beach, California. The goal, according to Salata’s website, is “honoring football’s underdog.”
Though the last player in the draft doesn’t always make it big in the NFL ... sometimes he does.
For example, the Chiefs — with their only Mr. Irrelevant selection since Salata began his ritual in 1976 — selected kicker Ryan Succop with the 256th and final pick of the 2009 draft. Succop spent five years with the Chiefs and was an NFL pro for 14 years, winning a Super Bowl with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers during the 2020-21 season.
San Francisco 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy is the best and most well-known Mr. Irrelevant. He was the 262nd selection in the 2022 NFL Draft out of Iowa State before leading the 49ers to a Super Bowl in his second season.
KC still has the option to trade that final pick, but barring that, it’ll be the team’s first Mr. Irrelevant selection since Succop in 2009.
The NFL awards compensatory picks each season when a team loses more or better compensatory free agents than it acquires during the previous year’s free agency. In 2024, the Chiefs lost offensive lineman Nick Allegretti, linebacker Willie Gay and punter Tommy Townsend while acquiring receiver Hollywood Brown.
In all, 35 compensatory picks were given out between the NFL Draft’s third and seventh rounds.
KC now has eight picks in the upcoming NFL Draft. They include:
• First round (No. 31)
• Second round (No. 63)
• Third round (No. 66)
• Third round (No. 95)
• Fourth round (No. 133)
• Seventh round (No. 226)
• Seventh round (No. 251)
• Seventh round (No. 257)
