One by one, the Kansas City Chiefs rookies are signing their first professional contracts. One day after fourth-round pick Jadon Canady, a cornerback from Oregon, signed his four-year deal, the Chiefs officiallly second-round pass rusher R Mason Thomas to the same.
Thomas's four-year rookie deal is worth just under $12.2 million with an average annual value of $3.05M, per Spotrac's contract figures. The pact includes a $5.3M signing bonus, which adds to a total cap hit of $2.217M in 2026.
Kansas City selected the Oklahoma edge rusher at No. 40 overall in the second round in last month's draft. Thomas was the second consecutive defensive lineman taken by K.C. and was part of a defensive-heavy class featuring four picks on that side of the ball to start things off. It wasn't until the selection of Nebraska running back Emmett Thomas that the Chiefs added anything on offense.
Thomas played four seasons for the Sooners and became known as "The Closer" for his ability to collapse the pocket in clutch situations. He had 15.5 sacks and 22 tackles for loss over his final two years at Oklahoma. He earned second-team All-SEC honors in '25 and first-team in '24. He also landed on the Bednarik Award list of semi-finalists last season.
Thomas is an undersized defensive end compared to typical Chiefs' prospects, so it will be interesting to see how he's deployed by coordinator Steve Spagnuolo. George Karlaftis is the only obvious starter for the Chiefs, but Thomas should join a rotation of second-year edge Ashton Gillotte and former first-round pick Felix Anudike-Uzomah.
Along with the addition of Thomas on the outside, the Chiefs have also made multiple moves to bolster the interior around their best pass rusher Chris Jones. They signed free agent tackle Khyiris Tonga and drafted Clemson tackle Peter Woods in the first round, giving the entire defensive front a nice boost of young, athletic talent.
Add us as a preferred source on Google