Chiefs tender 5th-year options to 2 defensive players. Here’s the significance
The Kansas City Chiefs will be selecting fifth-year options for both cornerback Trent McDuffie and defensive end George Karlaftis, a source confirmed to The Star.
Both one-year deals will be for the 2026 season. According to OverTheCap, McDuffie will earn $13.632 million, while Karlaftis is set to receive $15.196 million.
KC secures the rights to a potential fifth-year contract for both players because they were first-round picks. The deadline to pick up both options was Thursday.
McDuffie, 24, has emerged as a star in the Chiefs’ secondary, earning All-Pro first-team honors in 2023 and second-team distinction in 2024.
The 24-year-old Karlaftis, meanwhile, has been a reliable player for the Chiefs’ defensive line while posting 24 1/2 sacks in his first three seasons.
This could be the start of locking both players up long-term. Chiefs general manager Brett Veach said in a pre-draft interview that the team was focusing its efforts first on trying to sign right guard Trey Smith to an extension.
After that, the Chiefs would turn their attention to McDuffie and Karlaftis.
“I’m sure at some point here, George and Trent, we’re going to have dialogue with them,” Veach said.
McDuffie said last week that he was letting his agent deal with all negotiations. Still, he made it clear he’d love to remain with the Chiefs well into the future.
“I love what this team has done for me, and I love what I’ve been able to do for them,” McDuffie said. “So if it’s a long-term deal, I’d be ecstatic, that’s for sure.”
McDuffie, in particular, was hurt financially because of the NFL’s fifth-year option rules.
Though McDuffie earned two All-Pro honors, he has not been selected to a Pro Bowl in his career. If he had been chosen for just one Pro Bowl, via the NFL’s 2020 Collective Bargaining Agreement, his one-year pact would’ve been $17.595 million instead of the $13.632 million he will get. That’s a difference of $3.963 million.
McDuffie said the scenario was something his agent had talked to him about before he entered the league. He said losing that $4 million on the technicality wasn’t something he focused on.
“You want to get paid the most for what you do, but at the end of the day, my job was to come here and be successful with the team. And I got two Super Bowl championships, and just a lot of guys that have trusted me,” McDuffie said. “So when you talk about money, that will always come. As long as I’m doing my job on the field, that will come. So not really hanging my head over it. It’s something I can’t change.”
This story was originally published April 29, 2025 at 12:42 PM.
