Why Chiefs Should Exercise Fifth Year Option to DE Karlaftis

The Kansas City Chiefs have a ton to check off of their to do list before the thought of the 2025 campaign. With the 2025 NFL Draft looming around the corner, the franchise also has to take into consideration if they wish to exercise a fifth-year option to one of their up-and-coming stars in the National Football League.

Chiefs defensive end George Karlaftis is one of two players eligible to be extended a fifth-year option before the deadline at the start of May. While the franchise likely leans towards focusing on their draft process as of right now, they shouldn't keep Karlaftis on the back burner before it's too late.

For those who don't know, below is the Collective Bargaining Agreement of 2020, which explains the process of fifth-year player options:

"The 2020 Collective Bargaining Agreement allows for teams to exercise a fifth year option for players drafted in the first round as an addition to the standard four year rookie contract."

Karlaftis, the Chiefs' 2022 NFL first-round draft selection, has played his way into being considered for this extension. Since donning a Chiefs uniform, Karlaftis has secured 24.5 quarterback sacks, has earned 115 total tackles, and has done so in 49 regular season games played.

Kansas City has seen a ton of production from their 24 year old defensive end to where locking him up to stick with the franchise at least another year sounds like a no brainer. The thought process, however, is heavily dependent on how much money the front office has to spend to keep him.

According to Over the Cap, Karlaftis falls into the "Playtime" category. For the defensive end, given he's never made a pro bowl appearance thus far into his career, Karlaftis would be projected to earn $15,196,000 per 2026 paragraph five salaries,

"These players will be eligible for a fifth year base salary calculated from the average of the 3rd to 20th highest salaries at their position over the past five seasons, provided that their snap counts over their first three seasons meet one of the following three criteria:"

• 75% or greater in two of their first three seasons
• An average of 75% or greater over all three seasons
• 50% or greater over all three seasons