Trent McDuffie Leads Chiefs Line of ‘Next to Get Paid’

There’s a cost for success in the NFL, and the price of Brett Veach’s best draft is about to cost a lot.

Shortly after Trey Smith and the Chiefs agreed to terms on a four-year, $94-million deal, the New York Jets reached an agreement with Sauce Gardner (reportedly four years, $120.4 million). Over an hour on Tuesday, Smith and Gardner became the highest-paid guard and highest-paid cornerback in league history, respectively.

The fourth-overall selection in the 2022 draft, Gardner wasn’t the only stellar cornerback drafted that year. The Texans and No. 3-overall pick Derek Stingley beat the Jets to an extension this past March (three years, $90 million). But the most interesting case is the one now in the spotlight, the next cornerback drafted that year, Kansas City’s Trent McDuffie at No. 21.

McDuffie presents an interesting case. Compared to Stingley and Gardner, the Chiefs’ cornerback is deserving of similar if not greater compensation, but the complicating factor is a big one: He has only two interceptions over his first three NFL seasons.

That’s also the reason he’s yet to earn Pro Bowl honors, although McDuffie was a first-team All-Pro in 2023. Gardner, by comparison, owns a pair of Pro Bowl selections, two first-team All-Pro honors, and the NFL’s 2022 Defensive Rookie of the Year award. Stingley picked up his initial All-Pro and Pro Bowl honors last season.

All three players started right away, but McDuffie arguably has had the most impact, and the Chiefs haven’t missed a Super Bowl since drafting him. And while Stingley leads the group with 11 career interceptions, Gardner has just three. Each of McDuffie’s career picks came over a six-day stretch last season, in Weeks 14 and 15.

McDuffie is a different player, too. He has 4.5 career sacks and seven forced fumbles, unusual for a player at his position. Stingley and Gardner have one sack each, and Gardner has forced one fumble.

Whatever the Chiefs wind up paying McDuffie, he isn’t the only player from that 2022 class in line for an extension. First-round defensive end George Karlaftis (30th overall) is also eligible. So are safety Bryan Cook, linebacker Leo Chenal, cornerback Jaylen Watson and running back Isiah Pacheco.

The Chiefs in the recent past have approached contract situations with patience and confidence, guided by their salary-cap situation and other factors that influence decisions. As a result, timelines haven’t been linear.

Last year, Kansas City waited until Aug. 22 to reach an agreement with center Creed Humphrey (four years, $72 million). They needed another year and a franchise tag before beating the deadline by hours on an extension for Humphrey’s neighbor on that offensive line, Smith.

Tight end Noah Gray, another member of that 2021 class with Humphrey and Smith, signed his three-year, $18-million extension the morning of Kansas City’s 2024 opener, Sept. 5.

The highest-drafted player in that 2021 class wasn’t any of those. It was linebacker Nick Bolton, the quarterback of Steve Spagnuolo’s defense. The Chiefs had until three days before he hit free agency in March to sign him to a three-year, $45 million deal.

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