Leo Chenal has waited four years to get to this point. After quality play for almost 1,800 snaps, he is primed to hit free agency this offseason. The linebacker market has been stubborn over the past five years, but saw some positive movement last year.
Nick Bolton, Jamien Sherwood, Zack Baun, and Fred Warner all helped raise the top end of the positional market, while Robert Spillane, Terrel Bernard, Ernest Jones, and Divine Deablo helped reinforce the middle of the market. Chenal is now poised to further that market movement.
When projecting Chenal's contract, it is illustrative to find comparable players to benchmark him against. For this project, I will use team comps (Bolton and Drue Tranquill) and draft comps (Bernard and Nate Landman) to try to define his market. Finally, I'll look for the closest overall comp based on his production.
Team comps for Leo Chenal's market value
Tranquill got a three-year, $19 million deal from Kansas City in 2024. His $6.33 million APY was about 2.5% of the $255.4 million salary cap that year. Last year, Kansas City signed Nick Bolton to a three-year, $45 million deal. His $15 million APY was 5.4% of the cap that year. Here is a comparison of Chenal's 2025 to those two players' platform years.
Player | Age | Draft Round | Snaps | Tackles | Tackle Rate | Missed Tackle Rate | Stops | Stop Rate | TFL's | Pressures | Pressure Rate | Splash Plays |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Leo Chenal (2025) | 25.8 | 3 | 440 | 45 | 10.3% | 8.16% | 24 | 5.45% | 0 | 11 | 10.09% | 4 |
Nick Bolton (2024) | 25.5 | 2 | 941 | 107 | 11.4% | 15.65% | 44 | 4.68% | 9 | 13 | 12.62% | 9 |
Drue Tranquill (2023 | 29.0 | 4 | 579 | 71 | 12.3% | 7.89% | 35 | 6.04% | 3 | 18 | 36.00% | 8 |
While Chenal's rate metrics (missed tackle rate, stop rate) compare favorably to his teammates, it's his volume stats that will keep his value down. Despite high marks from the public grading site Pro Football Focus, he has been unable to earn starting snaps. That keeps his tackle and stop numbers down. His tackle rate is lower than the other two as well.
The Lions gave Derrick Barnes $8 million per year to be their third linebacker last year, but they also played Barnes twice as many snaps as KC gave Chenal. With youth on his side compared to Tranquill, I would say Kansas City would value Chenal at about $7 million per year.
Draft Class Comps
Two players from Chenal's draft class signed deals in the last six months. Terrel Bernard inked a four-year, $42 million pact with the Buffalo Bills just before the 2025 season, and Nate Landman just got a three-year, $22.5 million extension with the L.A. Rams.
Player | Age | Draft Round | Snaps | Tackles | Tackle Rate | Missed Tackle Rate | Stops | Stop Rate | TFL's | Pressures | Pressure Rate | Splash Plays |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Leo Chenal (2025) | 25.8 | 3 | 440 | 45 | 10.3% | 8.16% | 24 | 5.45% | 0 | 11 | 10.09% | 4 |
Terrel Bernard (2024) | 25.5 | 2 | 750 | 106 | 14.1% | 15.00% | 38 | 5.07% | 4 | 6 | 11.11% | 5 |
Nate Landman (2025) | 29.0 | 4 | 926 | 116 | 12.5% | 11.4% | 46 | 4.97% | 5 | 9 | 13.85% | 10 |
Again, it's the lack of playing time that will likely hold Chenal down. It will be tough for him to negotiate a deal above and beyond where Landman is unless an outside team sees him as a diamond in the rough and is willing to give him low-end starter money. Again, Chenal's lack of volume is what will hurt him most in negotiations.
I looked at all noteworthy linebacker contracts going back to 2020 and specifically filtered for players with 350–450 snaps over 10 games or more in their final platform season, and the top deal was Denzel Perryman's 2020 contract. That was a one-year, $5.555 million pay cut he took with the Chargers. The equivalent in 2026 would be a one-year, $8.5 million deal. I doubt Chenal will find that market.
I think the best comp for him would be Cory Littleton's 2023 contract with the Houston Texans. Like Chenal, Littleton was a part-time player seen as a fringe starter. The two players compare favorably as a volume comparison over the two years leading up to their contracts.
Player | Age | Draft Round | Games | Snaps | Tackles | Tackle Rate | Missed Tackle Rate | Stops | Stop Rate | TFL's | Pressures | Pressure Rate | Splash Plays |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Leo Chenal (2024-2025) | 25.8 | 3 | 31 | 885 | 95 | 10.7% | 6.42% | 46 | 5.20% | 4 | 24 | 10.86% | 9 |
Corry Littleton (2021-2022) | 29.8 | 8 | 30 | 1035 | 137 | 13.2% | 12.00% | 47 | 4.54% | 6 | 8 | 22.22% | 5 |
Chenal can use Littleton as the floor for the market of fringe starter/third linebacker and build value by showing he has more versatility in coverage, as part of the pass-rush plan, and through athleticism (better missed tackle rate and stop rate). He also has draft pedigree and age on his side to kick up his value from this baseline.
Littleton's APY was 1.07% of the salary cap at signing. Building a quarter of a point for each of those four factors (age, draft pedigree, athleticism, versatility) would put Chenal's value at just over 2% of the salary cap. With a projected cap of $300–305 million, Chenal's value should fall somewhere around $6–6.25 million on a one-year deal.
Chenal should be discerning in where he signs. His biggest goal should be to find more playing time. Unless Kansas City gives him assurances that he will eat into Tranquill's playing time, it would be best for him to shop around for a team that can give him an opportunity to start. That's his best path to a significant long-term deal in 2027.