The Chiefs are set to raise the center market by a considerable margin. They have a deal in place with standout snapper Creed Humphrey, according to NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport. The terms are quite notable.
Humphrey agreed to a four-year deal worth $72MM, ESPN.com’s Adam Schefter tweets. This makes the fourth-year blocker the NFL’s highest-paid center — by a lot. Entering Thursday, the NFL’s center ceiling rested at $13.5MM per year. Humphrey will take that to $18MM, with Schefter adding $50MM will be guaranteed on this contract. On a deal that ties the 25-year-old center to the Chiefs through 2028, the guarantee figure also comes in well north of any other snapper.
This deal moves Humphrey closer to the guard ceiling than where the center market has stood. Coming into today, Frank Ragnow‘s four-year, $54MM deal topped the market. The Lions blocker’s $42MM guarantee represented the only center guarantee higher than $34MM. After three promising seasons, Humphrey moved the Chiefs to create a new level among center contracts. This convinced the former second-round pick to pass on a run at free agency in 2025.
A Humphrey extension loomed on Kansas City’s radar for a bit, with both he and breakthrough right guard Trey Smith eligible for new deals in 2024. Smith remains attached to his rookie contract, and Humphrey’s payday stands to impact the Chiefs’ ability to keep their other standout interior blocker. Joe Thuney remains on an upper-echelon guard pact (five years, $80MM; the All-Pro LG’s contract runs through the 2025 season.
The Chiefs did not see high-priced right tackle Jawaan Taylor pan out in Year 1 of his deal, calling into question his long-term Missouri future. The two-time reigning champions also are transitioning at left tackle, not re-signing 2023 starter Donovan Smith. Inside, however, the Chiefs may have the NFL’s best trio. ESPN’s pass block win rate metric ranked Thuney, Humphrey and Smith first, second and fourth among interior O-linemen last season. This group played a key role in keeping the Chiefs on track during an uncharacteristically clunky season on offense.
Pro Football Focus has graded all three Humphrey seasons as top-class offerings, ranking him first among centers in 2021 and ’22 and fourth last season. PFF viewed Humphrey’s work in the run game as superior to his pass-blocking skills last season. It is clear the Chiefs agree with the Oklahoma alum’s standing, as this contract clearly became required to convince Humphrey — an unrealistic candidate for a 2025 franchise tag due to all O-linemen being grouped under one umbrella — to pass on moving toward free agency. Humphrey, who has never missed a game, is a two-time Pro Bowler; Jason Kelce‘s retirement also clears the way for other centers to begin earning first-team All-Pro distinctions.
The Chiefs had kept costs low at center throughout not only the Patrick Mahomes era but the Alex Smith years as well. Kansas City did not re-sign four-year starter Mitch Morse in 2019 and primarily used Austin Reiter at the pivot in 2020. The Buccaneers’ Super Bowl LV romp prompted GM Brett Veach to drastically overhaul the line, and Humphrey, Smith and Orlando Brown Jr. arrived. Brown’s decision to pass on a six-year Chiefs extension offer at the July 2022 franchise tag deadline helps make this Humphrey accord possible.
Thursday evening’s agreement marks the first salvo in a Chiefs effort regarding their strong 2021 draft class. The team also added Nick Bolton in that year’s second round. The off-ball linebacker joins Smith as an extension candidate. It will also be interesting to see how the Chiefs move forward with Thuney post-2024, as his deal includes no guarantees. Clearing out Thuney’s contract would open the door for a Smith payment. Taylor’s contract pays out its guarantees in 2024, giving the NFL’s top 2020s franchise some flexibility as it determines its O-line future.
