Chiefs' Trent McDuffie Will Make An Impact in 2025

The National Football League is filled with stars from the past, present, and future. One of the present and future stars of the league plays with the Kansas City Chiefs. Cornerback Trent McDuffie has seen his stock rise since first donning a Chiefs uniform, and 2025 should be no different.

Recently ranked as the third-best cornerback in the NFL going into the new season, McDuffie has lived up to his draft selection. The former first-round pick in the 2022 NFL Draft has helped transform the Chiefs' defense, making them one of the best defenses in the league.

Through 43 regular season games in his three-year career thus far, the Chiefs' cornerback has collected 183 total tackles, 133 solo tackles, and 27 passes defended. In 2024, McDuffie set a new career high for himself in passes defended, shielding off 13 passes. At just 24 years old (turning 25), the Chiefs have an investment not to let slip away.

The Chiefs exercised a fifth-year option on McDuffie earlier this offseason, keeping him in Kansas City until at least the 2026 campaign. With concerns that general manager Brett Veach won't open the checkbook to keep McDuffie with the franchise long term, McDuffie will just have to prove to the front office why he's worth it.

"I love the city. I love the coaches, love my teammates. I would love to be back with the team; as far as contract-wise, I mean, truly, I'm letting my agent deal with that. Like my sole focus this year, moving forward, is just football," McDuffie said back in April. "I love what this team has done for me, and I love what I've been able to do for them. So, if it's a long-term deal, I'd be ecstatic. That's for sure."

With the likes of Sauce Gardner and division rival Pat Surtain II as the only two players listed ahead of McDuffie in PFF's rankings, a huge, healthy season will elevate McDuffie's stock to where it would force the Chiefs' hand at attempting to lock him up long term.

Defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo has been the mastermind behind the Chiefs' defense, and knowing what McDuffie has been capable of through the first three years of his career, the trend upward doesn't seem like it would take a detour anytime soon.

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