The Kansas City Chiefs have never been shy about extending their younger draft picks under general manager Brett Veach — despite choosing to part ways with slightly older talents like wide receiver Tyreek Hill and cornerback L’Jarius Sneed on the eve of their respective paydays.
In part, the Chiefs traded Sneed because they have first-round understudy Trent McDuffie to think about. Drafted in 2022, McDuffie will be a candidate for an early extension in 2025. Similar to how Kansas City just locked up 2021 selection Creed Humphrey this offseason.
On the morning of September 4, NFL breaking news reset the likely floor of McDuffie’s second professional contract, and it was an AFC West rival who made the splash.
“The [Denver] Broncos and 1st-Team All-Pro CB Patrick Surtain II have agreed to a massive 4-year, $96M contract extension, with $77.5M guaranteed, per multiple sources,” NFL insider Jordan Schultz reported on X. “Surtain becomes the highest-paid DB in NFL history.”
Surtain’s yearly salary is even more telling. He’ll make an average of $24 million per season on this new contract extension, and that led A-to-Z Sports Kansas City reporter Charles Goldman to deduce that “McDuffie is probably getting $25M per year.”
Although Surtain isn’t the only outside variable to consider.
Chiefs Would Be Wise to Beat Sauce Gardner & Jets to Market If They Choose to Extend Trent McDuffie
Surtain — a 2021 first rounder — was the first shoe to drop, but he and McDuffie aren’t the only big-name cornerbacks that are emerging around the league.
“The ‘good’ news for the Chiefs with Patrick Surtain II getting $24m AAV is that only [Patrick] Mahomes, [Chris] Jones & Humphrey have big cap hits in 2027 when an extension for McDuffie would kick in,” Chiefs Digest beat writer Matt Derrick weighed in on X. “[The] bad news: if you don’t get a deal done early, $24m won’t be the going rate down the road.”
Derrick is likely referring to New York Jets cornerback Sauce Gardner — a two-time first-team All-Pro who was drafted higher than McDuffie in 2022.
Objectively speaking, outside of the two Super Bowl titles, Gardner has a stronger resume than the Chiefs star through two seasons. And that’s saying something.
Pro Football Focus has credited Gardner with 2 interceptions, 24 pass breakups, 36 key defensive stops and 612 yards allowed in coverage over his first 2,163 snaps. He’s also held opposing quarterbacks to a ridiculous passer rating of 63.0.
Comparatively speaking, McDuffie has accumulated zero interceptions, 5 pass breakups, 38 key defensive stops and 732 yards allowed in coverage over 1,659 regular season snaps. Opposing quarterbacks have also thrown for a much higher passer rating of 99.5 against the Chiefs CB.
Needless to say, Gardner might reset the market once again whenever the Jets elect to pay him. Raising that $24 million per year number even higher. Unless, of course, KC strikes first.
Chiefs Paying the Price of Phenomenal Drafting
Unfortunately, the NFL is a parity-based league. That means even when you draft well and make all the right decisions — as the Chiefs have done more often than not under Veach and head coach Andy Reid — you are penalized for it.
Kansas City won’t be able to extend all of their hits in the draft while remaining compliant with the NFL cap, and we’ve already talked about players like Sneed and Hill who were traded because of this. Will McDuffie suffer the same fate?
Given the current state of the CB room entering the 2024 campaign, that feels unlikely at this time. Having said that, McDuffie must prove he’s worth a $25 million per year contract this season without Sneed around to guard the opposition’s best.
If he does, the Chiefs must once again pay the price of drafting well. Something they’ll gladly continue to do so long as their teams continue to win Super Bowls.
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