KC Chiefs players nearing end of their contract years

Let’s look at some of the Kansas City Chiefs players entering the final few games of their contract years and what we’ve learned this season.

The big payday. It’s something that every NFL player dreams of achieving at some point, the stacking of enough productivity merged with the right timing to reach free agency at a desirable point in one’s career. The season before is called the contract year for that reason, that it represents the last chance for a player to enhance their stock value before cashing in.

While upwards of 20-plus players from the Kansas City Chiefs will hit free agency in ’23, the truth is that most of those will be players hitting the open market once again. These are veterans who were signed for a single season, and for the most part, those guys are going to be content with signing year-to-year deals in the name of extending their playing careers.

For a handful of guys, however, the upcoming free agency period is going to be their first real splash into the open market—or at least another chance after previous attempts to find generational wealth. That’s why we refer to someone like Juan Thornhill being in a contract year (more on him later) instead of someone like Deon Bush.

It’s interesting to look at the players who are ready to make the big bucks and chart how their year has gone in their attempts to prove they are ready for a team’s considerable investment. Let’s look through some Chiefs who are ending their contract seasons.

Nick Allegretti

It’s always a stretch for any seventh-round pick to make the team that drafts them, but when that franchise gets 55 games played and nearly 10 starts from that single investment, that’s a real find. It’s that background and minimal investment that’s made Nick Allegretti such a great story and key asset for the Chiefs for the last four seasons.

Allegretti was a road grader with versatile experience all along the interior for the University of Illinois when the Chiefs drafted him late in the 2019 NFL Draft—the selection used when K.C. traded wide receiver Rod Streater to the San Francisco 49ers. Coming into the league, he was experienced and ready to compete for a reserve spot on a roster, even if his ceiling wasn’t as high as scouts would like.

Fast forward to the end of his rookie deal and Allegretti has blossomed just like the Chiefs would have hoped coming into his career. It’s a testament to Allegretti’s talent and coachability as well as Andy Heck’s leadership at the position (since the Chiefs have done well there over the years to make real long-term assets out of the likes of Allegretti and Andrew Wylie).

Moving forward, however, what do the Chiefs do here? Allegretti is a nice sub at left guard who could also take some reps on the opposite side or even at center, but those spots are almost always best utilized for developing players. In addition, the Chiefs have already mentioned in comments to reporters that Darian Kinnard, this year’s fifth-round pick, is earning more reps inside as well—likely in an attempt to make him more versatile than he already is.

Given the Chiefs have a guy like Kinnard learning the ropes and someone like Mike Caliendo on the practice squad, who was close to making the team last year as an undrafted free agent out of Western Michigan, it might make sense for Allegretti to aim for more money from another team.