*****The George Karlaftis Thread*****

[Dante84]

More to come!

What are the #Chiefs getting in George Karlaftis?

Had an NFC Personnel executive tell me “He reminds me of J.J. Watt, when Watt was coming out. An explosive and versatile playmaker who has a high motor and can line up at 3,5, or 7. Very strong kid” #NFL #NFLDraft pic.twitter.com/5qM3g6OrMr

— Matt Lombardo (@MattLombardoNFL) April 29, 2022

George Karlaftis was drafted with pick 30 of round 1 in the 2022 draft class. He scored a 9.23 RAS out of a possible 10.00. This ranked 116 out of 1503 DE from 1987 to 2022. https://t.co/iXXBvnoFJc #RAS #Chiefs pic.twitter.com/eZ9XjNRDUB

— Kent Lee Platte (@MathBomb) April 29, 2022

“I was sitting there the whole night hoping we’d be able to get you.”

Karlaftis gets the call �� pic.twitter.com/DRGBDekvnl

— Kansas City Chiefs (@Chiefs) April 29, 2022

[BigCatDaddy]

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.

[Deberg_1990]

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

[JPH83]

Originally Posted by kccrow

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.

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.

[O.city]

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

[htismaqe]

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.

[Dunerdr]

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.

[Boxer_Chief]

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

[Mecca]

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

[DJ's left nut]

Originally Posted by Boxer_Chief

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

Originally Posted by Mecca

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.

[Mecca]

Originally Posted by DJ's left nut

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.

[OKchiefs]

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.

[RunKC]

Originally Posted by Mecca

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.

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

[Mecca]

Originally Posted by RunKC

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.

[RunKC]

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.

[kccrow]

Originally Posted by JPH83

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.

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.