Mike Pennel says mentorship matters more than stats in year 12 with Chiefs

Mike Pennel has 11 years of NFL experience across two stints with the Kansas City Chiefs and four other NFL teams. At this stage of his career, the veteran defensive lineman says what matters most has changed toward two things: winning and mentorship.

As the Chiefs ease back into training camp and prepare for their first preseason exhibitions, Pennel has taken on an important role beyond his rotational reps up front—which are impactful on their own. He's also an experienced player in a room filled with young options, a valuable voice who can provide meaningful insights into a game that looms large for those coming in.

The Chiefs had other such voices last season, but free agency removed them from the room coming into a new year. Longtime tackles Derrick Nnadi and Turk Wharton both departed for other teams—the former to the New York Jets and the latter to the Carolina Panthers.

Mike Pennel is embracing an important mentorship role in the Chiefs d-line room.

In the wake of such losses, the Chiefs decided to re-sign Pennel to a one-year deal for the 2025 campaign, the same such decision they've made in each of the last two offseasons. Pennel has been a vital cog for the team's defensive front and played 30 percent of all snaps last season for Steve Spagnuolo's unit.

Pennel addressed the offseason losses of Nnadi and Wharton when asked by reporters about the state of the defensive line.

"It's great competition in our room every year. We lost some major pieces with [Derrick] Nnadi and with Turk [Wharton] . You know, them guys have been there for a while. They both helped us get to Super Bowls, both helped us win Super Bowls," said Pennel.

"Now it's time for the younger guys to come up, the next generation. So, you know, me, Chris [Jones], George [Karlaftis], Mike Danna are taking that seriously, trying to get these guys prepared for the next wave."

The Chiefs have to love Pennel's posture when it comes to taking on that leadership role within the locker room and on the field. He's saying all the right things about this phase of his career.

"When you're looking back on your career at this stage, you see the guys that were rookies underneath you, and they're having success, and they're going to different teams, and they're kind of leaving their own room. That feels good, man.

"I always want to be a positive light on these guys. When they speak when they're done or they speak on a veteran that they've had, they can always say it was a positive light, something that's added to their game."

Pennel, who has also played for the Atlanta Falcons, Chicago Bears, Green Bay Packers, and New York Jets, has 138 games of experience to draw from, yet he's also showing new colors even more than a decade in the NFL. Last season, he set a career high with 3 sacks for the Chiefs after only 2 previous sacks in his entire career. It's clear that mentorship is only a small part of what Pennel brings to the Chiefs' table in 2025.