I'm not bothered about re-signing Omenihu, I think Young is a better rusher even if he's hot and cold. Tbh if we're rebuilding the DL I'd be interested in what a guy like Milton Williams will cost. I'd bet a guy like Derek Barnett costs a LOT less than Omenihu and probably gives you 80% of what he does. There's options.

I'd love to have him back but that seems like a lot.

McDuffie will demand a very large contract. They still need to sign several WRs, DT, and one of Bolton/Reid. They can free up money if Thuney leaves but will need to pay someone to replace him and Smith (who is probably gone).

I suspect I'm alone but I'd honestly have no interest in paying Karlaftis this.

Kind of been banging my head against the way trying to convince people of those physical limitations. He's...sound, reliable. But his best attribute has always been his motor. That's valuable, but not half as valuable as winning quickly, and he doesn't. He's benefitted from Jones and last year's sticky coverage affording him time.

Unless there's a big uptick in his pass rushing I'd let him see out his contract and move on.

Just depends on my options.

I mean at a point we do have to consider life beyond Jones and how that is going to look much MUCH different than what we have now. Moreover, Karlaftis looked at his absolute best this season against Pittsburgh when we DIDN'T have Jones out there.

I mean I don't think I'm letting him walk for a 3rd round comp pick or anything if we just don't have a better option to build a pass rush around. If we signed Young and he broke out, that's one thing.

But if you keep it steady as she goes, drafting and developing, and guys like FAU and Danna are the leftovers if Karlaftis walks and Jones ages out....well at that point you kinda HAVE to keep Karlaftis.

80% of what Omenihu gave us isn't far removed from Danna.

That's the thing, Omenihu is kinda the very least we can reasonably get from our #2 rusher.

I really don't think we can afford to pinch pennies and cut corners at that spot. We NEED that #2 rusher to be a guy who draws attention. Derek Barnett ain't gonna do that, IMO.

Ultimately the best approach to trying to get by on the cheap at RDE would, unfortunately, probably be baking on FAU to make a leap in year 3.

But I'm not super interested in another $7-10 million DL who's just...eh.

Give me the $14 million guy who's good or the $1 million young player who might be.

That mediocrity in the middle doesn't interest me any more than it did when we gave Danna his deal. Those just don't tend to work out well.

Well, yes. But I'm going on the fact he's just 23 right now, and should, SHOULD be lot's of room for improvement. And yes, we do have a lot of other pieces we need to decide what to do with.

He's pretty maxed out and there really wasn't much of a '3rd year leap' from him.

It's pretty rare for a guy to really move forward much from where Karlaftis is, especially when he's as physically mature as he's like to ever be.

The bend will just never get there. He can refine his hand-fighting and if that REALLY explodes forward, you have Hendrickson on your hands and kick yourself for losing him for the next half-decade.

But again, that doesn't happen often.

Eh - my answer's easy. You likely sign Bolton this off-season and you ABSOLUTELY get a McDuffie extension done the moment it's allowed by league rules.

Then you see what's left.

If you can still build a viable defense around GK and his contract - that's cool. But I think you may be better served signing Chase Young, getting a year with both of them and then moving GK for a 2nd rounder after you activate his 5th year option.

Whatever we do, it centers around McDuffie. It's not dissimilar to Mahomes in that regard -- the answer to the rest of the offense was "Get Mahomes done, spend what you have left"

That's how I'm approaching this defense as well. McDuffie is the only 'must sign' on it.

If Karlaftis had two more sacks and 15 less pressures people would be happy with him because they are enamored with sacks. He is exactly the kind of player you try and extend. He fits in the scheme, he’s productive, he’s reliable, no off field or ego issues, gives 100% all four downs.

Spend the money on the kid so you aren’t spinning your wheels with players like FAU, Kpass, Kaindoh and Speaks

Wasn't it Frank Clark that said "They don't pay me for pressures?"

The studies on pressures are interesting in that they are REALLY volatile. Some pressures just mean precisely dick. Almost all sacks, OTOH, mean a fair amount.

I'd trade 5 pressures for a sack 100 times out of 100. So honestly, I'm not sure your thesis there carries a ton of weight.

Many of those pressures just don't mean anything. Almost all of the sacks mean a lot.

It's also possible that the 'scheme' may not be the scheme for much longer.

If Spags takes a HC job, we may be working with a different scheme really quick.

My honest sense is if we NEED Karlaftis here, something has gone wrong or he's become a different player. Agreed re his Steelers game, that was pretty encouraging, so who knows. But really my conclusion is we should be prioritising the DL more and planning for both Jones and Karlaftis going, the former ageing out, the latter pricing himself out.

The DL has been so underwhelming I'm happy to blow it up outside of Jones. I can't believe we can't find better in FA than Omenihu and than Karlaftis in the draft in the next couple of years. Or improve via DT

Yeah that might be fair, I think Barnett is probably better than Danna and honestly not a million miles behind Omenihu, but I take the point. He was so cheap you could possibly wave goodbye to Omenihu and, say, Reid, and have Young and Barnett on the DL. I actually don't mind that outcome at all if it means quicker and more regular pressure from the DL.

Omenihu and McDuffie both need big contracts. Omenihu should get a nice chunk that will end up a huge bargain.

The moment Omenihu got back, the defense kicked it up a notch and the pass rush woke up and started being terrorizing QBs again.

Those 2 need to be here the next 5 years.

You guys are being ridiculous in your assessment of Karlaftis. He's in the top 30 in sacks every year. He's not a top 10 gamebreaker off the edge but he's sure as ****ing a good DE.

At 23 I still feel he hasn't touched his potential. Especially for a guy that relies so much on strength he is only going to get stronger over the next few years. I don't see Omenihu getting anything but another 1 year prove it deal. He is coming off an injury and didn't exactly put up big numbers.

Grinder, gym rat, sneaky athletic , gets the most out of his abilities

This is a genuine question, but what parts of his game do you particularly like? His motor is phenomenal, he's pretty versatile, seems a true professional. All that seems fairly top tier. Against the run I think he's OK but can be susceptible to just being washed a mile out. As a rusher...i just don't think he wins quickly enough or often enough.

I guess I could be talked into categorising this as good, or at least good enough. I just think he's rarely a game changer and as DJ says he's more of a complementary piece.

He's a good football player and you need those. The issue becomes, how do you pay for that?

I can't really comment here because I'm biased. I wanted George on this team since his first season at Purdue. I love the kid and hope he's a Chief for life.

I forget how young he is. Id say just lock him up for his prime years. He's the lunch pail kind of guy that's the back bone of championship teams.

What is a good comp for pay based on similar players? The whole question comes down to financials.

Karlaftis is probably a 16-18 AAV so you're looking at something like 4-65 with probably 25-30 in guarantees.

Sweat got 4/98. And I'm not sure he's obviously better thank Karlaftis.

I don't think GK gets that figure, but I think he'll get $20 million/per at least.

If we start getting into the 20+ figures you have to question if you want to keep him, but you also have to weigh how much longer Jones is here also.

Danna is set to make $11 million in 2026 and is hardly worth half that, can let go of him after this year to have some more to throw towards Karlaftis.

It is all in the structure. A 3 year deal is far different than a 4 or 5 year deal.

These guys get their number “on paper” and it’s always backload to the last year to meet that number even though 95% of players never see that final year.

And that’s fine bc they get paid big money when they sign the contract while the team makes an out to get cap saving and little dead money.

I am gonna have to hammer this with Nick Bolton bc if they keep him everyone will freak out at the number without looking at the structure

I don't think they wanna go over 12 on the AAV with Bolton and he could probably get 14-16 on the open market.

I think he’s gonna ask for somewhere between Milano and Edmunds which is around $15 million.

Fine. Give him and 5 year deal and have the cap hits be something like 7, 10, 13, 18 and 27 while being able to cut the guy in year 4 and 5 getting cap space back.

Karlaftis is available and consistent, for starters. He's a plus player in all facets. I conceded he's not a game changer but he is extremely solid against the run and the pass. He continues to increase his number of pressures and QB hits. The increases in sacks may still come. If he can add 3 sacks per season, I think many would be signing a different tune. He's still young enough to grow significantly yet in terms of strength and technique.

In my opinion, he's a better player than Rashaan Gary, who got 24 m per. He's certainly going to command no less than the 17m per that Huff got last year. That may help quantify his value.

DEs of at least his quality don't grow on trees. There's, on average, one per team. If you guys want one of the top tier plus him, that's pretty rare overall in the league. Most of the teams that have two traded for or signed a UFA for at least one of those.

He reminds me of Hali. Not an elite, lead the league in sacks kind of DE, but a very solid and steady one year in and year out.

I was thinking the same thing. Hali took some time to really shine as well. Some of that could have been the 4-3 to 3-4 switching but the Tamba Hawk chop was special.

He’s the Bo Nix of DE’s. Productive, high floor but will never be a truly elite game changer.

Also we’ll see with FAU. Oweh in Baltimore took 3 years to break through and now he’s got double-digit sacks. Espenesa in Buffalo figured it out in year 3 and went from 2 sacks to 7 consistently.

Hoping Felix can make that kind of jump and be a nice rotational player

He’s been exactly as advertised. He was an excellent pick at #30

His ascension has been so awesome to see.

Right. Karlaftis, to me, does all the things that makes guys like Sam Hubbard start-able players (consistent, available, high motor, good effort against run and pass), but he adds on quite a bit more pass rush ability.

Your DL probably isn't awesome if he's your best DE (unless your DTs are just monsters), but if he's 2a or 2b on your DL, you're in pretty good shape.

$24M seems like a bit much to pay for that type of player, but we'll see what the market looks like soon (and that makes the case for extending him while you still have the lower costs of year 4 and rookie option year 5 to use as negotiating sticks to keep the overall price down).

Appreciate you engaging kccrow. I do wonder what his route to improvement will be. I could see his hand usage and certainly his strength improving, and I don't see why that couldn't mean another jump. That's my optimistic take.

Anyone complaining about Karlaftis is misguided. Done very well for us.

8.5/10

He's set to make $9 million with about $2.2 million in dead money.

Yeah, you'll free up a little by cutting him, but more like $7 million rather than $11 million.

You absolutely engage him this offseason to see where his head is at.

But if it's at $24 million you have to start seriously considering a Plan B should one surface in FA that you can tie into long-term. Someone like Chase Young, for example.

And if that means you get them both for a year -- even 2 if you exercise GK's 5th year option -- fantastic. But I think you have to know what GK and his people are looking and be ready to pivot as early as this off-season if need be.

I'd rather keep him than lose him - he's an OUTSTANDING complementary DE. A really good player. But as you noted, $24 million+ is awfully stout for a guy who's best role is probably your 3rd best DL and who appears to be stretched a bit if he's your 2nd.

Okay, he might just have to paid.

Officially a dude.

lEt hIm WaLkKk

The “let him walk” crowd can shove it up their ass. Yeah, we’re just gonna “replace” his production.

PAY THE MAN HIS MONEY

Bro is only 23 years old.

And humble brag...

OK let's pay this man

what an absolute stud

he was dominant tonight and doing that in the playoffs is ****ing legendary

Furious George is a better player than 49ers overrated Nick Bosa. I don't care what anyone says.

Furious George plays smarter than Bosa and is relentless.

Wow I forgot Karlaftis was so young when we drafted him

Yeah we definitely got a good one here

Looked a lot like JJ Watt out there today.

Victory lap justified

Playing like the top ten pick he should've been, McDuffie should have been top 5.

I believe that is now 7 postseason sacks.

4 more gets him into the 10 ten all time.

He may push for the record if he plays a decade in KC.

That one play where the Texans tried to double him with a TE and RB and Karlaftis went through them like they weren't even there was sick.

This guy is going to be a beast. You could tell from his pre-draft interviews that he had the fire inside. He said he wanted to be the best in the league and you could see that he meant it. He's 23 and just played one of the most dominant games from a DE in NFL history.

This knocked me unconscious

setting a low bar.

The Greek for the win!!!

He murders fewer people than Aaron Hernandez.
He cheats less than Tom Brady.
He rapes fewer women than Roethlisberger.

Yup... never understood people questioning whether or not he should get a 2nd contract here. Imagine when he's 27 years old and has fully matured into the player he'll be... Guy has a chance to be a Trey Hendrickson type of player and people just can't see it.

He's our version of Trey Hendrickson. Love George, incredible game. Three sacks!!!

What a game he had. Gadzooks!

This is some kind of trajectory.

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/GhrEPBeW...jpg&name=large

Might extend him before he becomes too expensive. If he's not already.

At the end of the game when they showed him on the phone on the sideline my sister asked who he would be talking to and I said "his agent."

Cant sign everybody if you pay your center 20M

He was great yesterday. GREAT

Karlaftis stepped up his game in the 4th QTR in crunch time.

I don't understand the Texans trying to use an ordinary TE to try to block George on two of those sacks (except for Spags scheme possibly forcing the mis-match), because only a TE like Jason Dunn back in the Vermeil era would have a chance.

https://i.imgur.com/z37ST9N.png

Crazy that Albert Lewis is on the Chiefs all time playoff sack leaders.

Wasn't the term Furious George coined here? Or did he have that name in college? I just read an article on SB Nation that called him Furious George. First time that I've ever seen that used outside of CP.

I heard it on Pregame a time or two. His nickname in college was the "Greek Freak." Furious George is much better. He's top nice to be a freak.

7 sacks in year one.
13.5 sacks in his second year
11 sacks this year (with 2 games to go)

He has 31.5 sacks in his first 3 seasons.

He and McDuffie would probably both be redrafted in the top 10.

Studs

He’s probably better than Hali, already.

That was a really good draft to get that extra capital in. It was a pretty damn good draft period.

Gardner, McDuffie, Wilson, Pickens, Stingley, joseph, Hamilton, Bonitto, Hutchinson, Olave, Karlaftis and several others (hell, even Purdy).

Even the 'busts' from that round were pretty decent. Londong, Smith, Linderbaum, Cross, Walker, Thibodeaux, Zion Johnson, Devin Lloyd, even Ekwonu.

I mean there are just a TON of good players to have come out of that draft. Guys like Cook, Williams, Hall and Walker at RB. Shakir, Watson, Williams, Doubs, Pierce at WR.

I think McDuffie goes top 5. I doubt Karlaftis goes top 10 but he probably goes top 20.

We had a very good draft, no question. But man when you start to look at that draft, it was loaded and a ton of teams had pretty massive hauls.

I recall watching a youtube video doing a redraft that was about 10 games into that season where they called Karlaftis a bust.

For all the complaints about Pickens, he wasn’t the guy we missed on. It was Bernhard Raimann.

He would’ve started over Wylie at RT and taken LT when we let OBJ walk.

Swap Skyy for Raimann and good lord.

I doubt the Chiefs switch Raimann back to LT. They probably keep him at RT, but at least we would have saved mega millions by not paying Jawaan.

That still would’ve been a win for sure.

Can’t complain too much though.

shit DT vanished in big moments

Yep.

Omenihu might be even crazier. And with 2 FFs!

What’s his contract extension going to look like?

Alot more than people on CP will be ok with and or want to pay.