The Kansas City Chiefs can ill-afford to play the waiting game. While KC has made some moves – albeit confusing – in free agency so far, they have yet to address one major need in-house. This is despite a favor from quarterback Patrick Mahomes, who along with star pass rusher Chris Jones provided the Chiefs with over $49 million of additional funds to work with.
Brett Veach has earned the right to take his time and operate without much second-guessing from pundits like myself. He and Andy Reid built a perennial contender and traded up for their franchise quarterback when few would've cashed such a lottery ticket on Mahomes. The Chiefs draft well, and they tend to keep the right players around. Unfortunately, the longer they wait on one player specifically, the less likely it is they are able to sign him long term. That player would be Trent McDuffie.
Texans put pressure on Chiefs to extend Trent McDuffie
The Houston Texans signed Derek Stingley Jr. to a record-breaking contract extension on Monday morning. The asking price for shutdown corners has gone up dramatically in just the past few weeks, and while the Chiefs would rather wait until later in the offseason to address such a pressing need, patience should come with a warning label based on what we've seen so far this March.
Stingley became the highest-paid cornerback in the NFL on Monday, signing a $90 million extension with $89 million guaranteed. The deal will pay Stingley close to $30 million per season, which surpasses the contract signed by Jaycee Horn of the Carolina Panthers, which will pay him $25 million AAV. Stingley Jr. allowed the second-lowest completion rate this season per Next Gen stats, and had a career year with five interceptions. He has earned his contract, but he will not remain the highest-paid cornerback for long.
Trent McDuffie could force Chiefs to alter their usual approach
While McDuffie is obviously not on the offensive side of the ball, he is one of the Chiefs greatest assets, as he helps get Mahomes the ball back as quickly as possible, and keeps the opposing offense off the field as a result of key pass breakups. He is rapidly emerging as one of the best cornerbacks in the AFC, and even if he doesn't command Stingley Jr. money, his asking price will go up as does the market. That is not rocket science. Arrowhead Addict's Matt Conner detailed the problem the Chiefs now face:
"Veach's decision to wait, however, has now cost him in the long run. Stingley's deal averages $30 million annually. It also blows away Jaycee Horn's recent deal with the Carolina Panthers by $17 million guaranteed. There's no way McDuffie's representatives are going to go for a deal that doesn't get the best of Stingley's, which means that K.C. is going to have to climb higher than $30M in potential annual value at this rate," Conner wrote.
As Conner notes, Veach traditionally likes to sign players to extensions after the NFL Draft, but McDuffie is not most players. The Chiefs are among the best franchises in the league at making adjustments on the fly. Now would be the right time to consider altering their usual approach, especially right after two of their franchise icons freed up money for that very reason.