Five contract year Chiefs players with most to lose
By Jacob Milham
The 2022 NFL season is nearly here, and several Kansas City Chiefs players have something to prove. If they prove themselves, they could be cashing in next offseason.
Kansas City Chiefs fans are certainly ready for the regular season’s beginning. All the national media have spent this summer painting a certain narrative about the beloved Chiefs. From the AFC Championship game loss to trading away wide receiver Tyreek Hill and everything in between, the Chiefs have been in the national headlines. All the talk means nothing if the Chiefs do one thing in 2022: win.
Winning is good for the franchise, but there is a trickle-down effect. Being on a winning team or contributing to a winning culture can translate into dollars once the offseason comes. Mediocre journeyman players, such as offensive lineman Stefen Wisniewski, can receive multi-year deals just after being with a winning team. After the draft, football goes from a game to a profession. Winning is nice, but the money makes any situation better.
Currently, 24 Chiefs players’ contracts will end following the 2022 season. That group extends from Pro Bowl-contending starters to fringe 53-man roster players. But, that is still nearly half of the current roster. All of them will be in a different financial situation come 2023. Will some be retired? Sure. Will others begin or continue careers hopping from one team to another? Absolutely. But the rest are in their prime moneymaking years. Years in which teams pay them millions of dollars over a long period of time in the hope of achieving one goal: winning.
Those new contracts don’t come without standout performances in the 2022 season. From that group of 24, there are five Chiefs players with a lot to lose financially without good performance in 2022.