The Kansas City Chiefs would love for the decision before them to be a difficult one. When it comes to this year's deadline for NFL franchises to decide on fifth-year options, well, let's just say that general manager Brett Veach won't have to think twice about what K.C. wants to do.
With Super Bowl LX in the books and the offseason officially upon us all, the conversation has turned toward this year's moves and that includes a major decision for every first-round choice from the 2023 NFL Draft. For the Chiefs, that means wondering whether or not they will pick up that option for Felix Anudike-Uzomah for 2027 or not.
The Chiefs have until May 1 to make their choice, but anyone could have told you this answer more than a year ago, given the limited impact made by the former Kansas State defensive end. When you factor in that Anudike-Uzomah didn't play a single snap in 2025 due to injury, the notion of picking up the option sounds quite silly.
No one will even have to think twice about what to do with Felix Anudike Uzomah's fifth-year option.
Of course, Chiefs Kingdom would love for things to look different here, both for the player and the team. The Chiefs selected Anudike-Uzomah at the end of the first round of a local draft, and the lineman has never been able to shake the belief that he was a token grab for an excited crowd watching the draft in Kansas City.
The K.C. native played in all 34 regular-season games in his first two NFL seasons, but his impact has been negligible for a team that could use serious help on the edges. Any hopes of a third-year breakout were dashed by his placement on injured reserve after the team's second preseason game against the Seattle Seahawks. It was known even then that he was lost for the season, meaning that this contract year is likely his final bid with the team.
It's possible that Anudike-Uzomah is able to carve out a rotational spot in 2026, and K.C. will give him every opportunity to earn that role. However, the Chiefs are expected to go shopping at defensive end this offseason, and Ashton Gillotte and George Karlaftis already locked into meaningful roles. Depending on what the team decides about Mike Danna's cap hit, Anudike-Uzomah could find himself fighting for relevance after a lost season.
Either way, the fifth-year option, which would have paid Anudike-Uzomah over $14 million in 2027, is out of the question. It'd be nice if it were a tougher call, since that would mean he was putting up meaningful production. Instead it's an early draft miss for a team that watched much better players taken immediately after him (Detroit Lions tight end Sam LaPorta, Pittsburgh Steelers corner Joey Porter Jr.) at the top of day two.