Who Has The Leverage For Trent McDuffie Extension?
 

I've seen people on social media and other websites say that the Chiefs messed up by not extending McDuffie right after the Super Bowl. The logic being that the price is only going to go up. First, that assumes that McDuffie and his agent were willing to immediately sign and we don't know that.

Second, does McDuffie actually have the leverage here? Let's assume McDuffie wants to reset the corner market. That will be over 30M APY after we just recently saw Stingley sign his deal.

The Chiefs are paying 4M in 2025 for McDuffie. And 13M for McDuffie in 2026. That's what he's under contract for. His name is on the dotted line. Then in 2027 we can franchise tag for a below market value price. And we could even tag him again in 2028 for probably below market price. That's 4 full seasons of below market pay.

If Veach decided to play hardball here we could delay McDuffie's free agency until he is 29 years old without ever having to pay him market value.

Are there any NFL teams who want to break the bank for a 29 year corner? This isn't QB or OL or DL where guys can play forever and remain elite well into their 30s. A 29 year old corner is not a good candidate for a long term, mega deal unless the guaranteed money is very low.

Makes you really consider, it seems like the Chiefs have all the leverage here. Not McDuffie.

Price ain't goin up. They know the price now. It is what it is.

The starting price for an extension starts at the 2 tags. Work from there.

The Chiefs don't have to pay him what he wants. McDuffie is under contract for 2 more years. And then we can tag him. If we want to play hardball he ain't getting anywhere close to top of the market.

He's a cornerstone pro bowl player.

They're not gonna jerk him around.

Jerk him around? He's under contract.

I do. I’m going in hard. No lube.

Oh wait, sorry. I thought we were talking about me and your sister

Bit creepy since my sister is 14.

Making a guy of that caliber ride out the tag and such would be seen as jerking around.

Then why does the tag exist? He has no leverage.

Veatch. He drafts gems (McDuffie was a little different since 1st round, but still) in the secondary. McDuffie will get a deal done in the next year or so if he is willing to take a kind of Bobby Witt Jr hometown deal (not saying the length or the $ but BWJ took what looks like now a hell of a discounted deal to stay here) or he will be traded after probably one year of franchise tag. He is not getting record breaking corner deal money here, and he shouldn't. Hell of a player but if your expertise is finding secondary players, you don't pay any of them record money.

Agree completely. Team friendly deal or tag and trade in 2028.

Corners don't run this league. QBs and Linemen do.

No way to know what's going on behind the scenes. But if McDuffie and his agent think they are going to reset the corner market then they don't understand how this organization operates. Corner is not a premium position.

So are you 12?

If so that would make a lot of sense.

No, my dad had a 2nd child at 45.

You said words, but other than No, none of that means anything.

So 15 then?

Nope. 32.

No player(as far as I know) has ever played with the team on a 2nd tag year.

Is this about the tobacco harvest of 1802

Dak Prescott and Kirk Cousins. Which is no problem because QBs have all the leverage. They can play forever and they are more important to the success or failure of a team.

Terrible idea. Pay him now.

They have the highest paid C in the history of the league.

If we wanna get into non premium positions....

The guaranteed $ an agent will start at, is the price of two franchise tags.

True. Although I'd take Creed at 18M over McDuffie for 31M.

They're into paying elite players. He's an elite player. Paying them isn't the issue.

It's paying good players elite money.

We didn't want to pay Tyreek. I'm not sure we want to pay McDuffie. People can say we broke the bank for Chris Jones and we did. And Chris also had us over a barrel. You don't allow elite interior pass rushers out the door. Corners and WRs are a completely different situation.

Yeah, this shouldn't be that crazy.

$14 million(ish) for the 5th year
$21 million for the first tag
$25 million for the 2nd tag.

Based on Stingley's numbers, about $27 million in 'new' money for the next 2 years should be in the ballpark.

That gets you to about 5 years/$115 million. Push another 6 million into those 2 years and drive them up nearer $30 million/season if you want -- you're still looking at 5/$121 million.

Not at all dissimilar to the Surtain deal at that point. Market may push that up a bit but there aren't a ton of CBs out there due to challenge the top of the market who will push that CB tag figure up a ton.

Ultimatley his hands are tied a bit by the pro bowl snubs that kept his 5th year down and thus won't serve to drive his franchise tag seasons any higher either.

I'd like to get a deal done that would take him through his age 30 season and ensure that he plays his entire prime here. If we can't...aight. I'll keep him through age 28 and let him walk.

Chiefs have plenty of leverage here and most critically, plenty of time.

Tyreek was a 3rd contract. Different deal.

This. If McDuffie would take 23 APY then let's make a deal. But he has no leverage for 30 plus million. He's still under contract for 4m this year. And the lack of pro bowls keeps the 5th year option low.

He could say fine, I'll wait and ride out the contract and the tags, but that is not going to work out for a corner. Teams are looking to move on from corners who are 28 plus.

He's got no leverage.

Tyreek was also a very unique player.

McDuffie is a very GOOD player. Maybe a great player. But I was actually thinking about this in your Rice thread. Tyreek was a great player with HoF traits. That's a guy you go ahead and sign. It's typically what we've done.

Rice may prove to have great production but doesn't have HoF traits.

Now where's McDuffie fit in there? Boy, I just don't know. His speed is good -- not elite. His size has been attacked on the boundary.

So how much weight do you put on the fact that he's aggressive, smart and can gear up/down like nobody's business? Can that be a suitable proxy for a lack of 'explosive' traits or plus size?

It's just a hard question to answer. The guys we've paid at/near the top of the market have been guys who have had Pro Bowl production AND HoF physical attributes. Creed is a bit of a strange case because man, how do you define HoF traits for a C? Likewise with Smith at OG. I really don't know. A guy like Bolton didn't GET that top of the market money some were thinking he'd pursue.

The only commonality I can find on the guys we choose to really take care of is that these are guys who have produced at a high level and who's raw physical talent is so loud that you won't risk losing them.

Is Rice that guy? Man, I'm not sure he is. Is McDuffie that guy? The world wonders...

Agents are advising top tier clients not to sign second contracts early.

This is a moot point.

Those were special situations and QB's. There is not a chance in hell that he plays on a 2nd year tag. None.

Depends on what McDuffie's demands are.

Like DJ said, add in 3 years of control. Right now do a 5 year/$121 deal and call it a day.

McDuffie also seems to be about as clean off the field as you can have/get as well as being a "I just ****ing love football and everything about it".

You know you're gonna get from him about everything.

'Advise' whatever you want.

Now go hand McDuffie a contract and say "Hey, if you sign this I'll write you a check for $35 million that you can deposit into your bank TODAY..."

Maybe he listens to that agents advice. Or maybe he says "**** off, sport. YOU walk away from a $35 million bonus to play out a contract in a sport there it may all end in week 1...."

Nobody's saying we'll low ball him. We're saying that if you put a MASSIVE pile of money in his pocket today, you might be able to get him to take $120 million over the life of the deal instead of $140 million. And take a lot of risk out of the equation in the exchange.

Because again - we have him LOCKED IN at $60 millionish over the next 3 years. If we offer him $120 million, he's not gonna go out there, play out that deal and secure $180 million instead. That's simply not the reality of the NFL. Not for a CB who's rights we can control through age 28.

Take $120 million and you MIGHT be leaving $20 million on the table in your prime earning years. Obviously that's not nothing...but neither is having a signing bonus NOW instead of 2 years from now. That's $20 million more than he'll earn over the next 24 months. Time value alone gives that value.

Any agent telling his client not to listen at $120 million is doing him one hell of a disservice. It's absolutely a conversation worth having and the guy sitting at a desk taking phonecalls isn't the one who's putting that livelihood on the line every Sunday.

It's a hell of a lot easier to gamble with somebody else's knee...

Get an older sister then pussy

Can we take fuzzies fan privileges away?

Cornerback more than any other position on defense is a young man's position. Most cornerbacks are pretty much done playing at the All Pro level by the time they are late 20s. It's just a brutally short prime.

I have no idea what he and his agent are coming to the table with. But at age 25 and with 3 or even 4 years of control left he doesn't have the leverage to say I want more than Stingley and I'm not budging. Ok, fine. We can just let you play out the contract and tags for cheap.

In poker you play the hand you are dealt. And a corner doesn't have the same hand as a pass rusher.

If you’re a corner you sign that deal now. There’s a lot of variance at that position. It’s one of the least forgiving positions in the NFL.

If McDuffie gets a bad injury like an ACL, his value drops. If he got the injury Josh Simmons sustained, his career might be over.

These guys have to keep up with the best athletes on the field. The fastest player in combine history is a WR. One injury makes that edge that much harder. Technique matters, but I would argue there isn’t a position on the field that needs athleticism more than corner.

I’d sign that deal now. Corners have the most to lose waiting.

If Nohl Williams is good, we get more leverage.

And McDuffie doesn't have a big athleticism gap he can lean on should he suffer a serious injury to a knee.

Worse still, his party trick is stop/start. He's elite at it. If that knee goes and that's even the slightly bit compromised...well, at that point he's a physical CB with size and deep speed limitations. He becomes an ordinary NCB and his earnings potential is gonna about halve.

Yeah - you don't walk away from that deal.

Oh you MIGHT beat it. Stay healthy, continue to play at this level. It's possible.

But to what gain? At what risk? And again, the time value is real. That's $25-35 million (plus probably another $6-8 million or so in base) over the next two seasons. Conservatively it's $30 million in his pocket vs. $15 million over the next 2 seasons. And probably at least $25 million the moment he puts pen to paper.

If his agent is dogmatic enough to say "nah, **** all that..." then he has a REALLY bad agent.

I'll gladly undercut his rate if Trent wants to give me a call...

Uh...no.

I mean if Williams is GREAT we might. But c'mon fellas, lets still acknowledge that Williams was seen pretty much universally as a 3rd round pick. Which is fine -- that's where we got him. Solid value in that we got a guy in the mid/late 3rd who was generally thought of as an early 3rd guy.

And Williams was the 11th corner taken in the draft. Again, that doesn't mean he's not going to be able to play really well for us.

But those things mean that this guy probably isn't gonna be a guy who comes along and when we say to a guy who's made All Pro teams "Oh sure, Trent -- try to play hardball. We have Noehl ****in' Williams to replace you..." makes him stand up and pay attention.

It has to be a credible threat. I see a scenario where Williams is a hell of a complement to McDuffie but I don't see any chance in the world he's ever a legitimate replacement for him. And McDuffie knows that.

These guys aren't stupid. They see what we see.

Figures. U R an idiot.

Sorry about your vaginal cramps.

Aren't you the dumb **** that said Watson was a better corner than Mcduffie?

He's a better pure boundary corner. Yea.

Hey guys, remember Black Bob?

I think I found him

Yes there has been a couple IIRC one was the. Seahawks OL


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Could be the ringleader of the Chanute Starfish Sunbathers. Though I suspect the topics to start to lean to Sports Betting site discounts

Who has the leverage? Trent's girlfriend. She holds all the cards.

https://cdn01.justjared.com/wp-conte...girlfriend.jpg

Damn. Back to the drawing board.

Vartch will get McGriddles to flip for cheap

Given that the tag exists, teams have to use it or threaten to use it to keep up with other teams.

I wish they would get rid if it. It can really jerk good players around, especially RBs. It causes additional bad blood between players and teams.

If you got rid of it, every team is still in the same boat.

So the top players are paid sooner or hit FA sooner. I'm fine with that. Increase the draft compensation for losing them if fans are going to whine that much about getting rid of it.

More than likely they'll probably prioritize George Karlaftis over Trent McDuffie.

Can't keep both too much money.

'25 cap 279.2
'26 est. 281 - 307
Meh

Eventually, Duff is going to have a 6 to 7 int year, he's too good not to. No int's last year. I just don't see that lasting. Veach knows that is a big bargaining chip. Extend now while you can afford him.

Good players get their contracts revisted if contacts jump at their position

This. Can't remember what podcast I heard this on, but while it seems good for the team to lock a player up early, those later years of the contract just get ripped up if the market moves significantly by then.

You don't have to worry about that when it comes to corners. Most of them are finished at the elite level by age 28. So if they want to bitch and whine about their deals at that point then call their bluff.

Edit: this business, that's bad business

Huh? He had his first two career interceptions last season. For him to have 6-7 interceptions would indicate he is being thrown at a lot which is not going to be the case. And that's a good thing.

They said basically the same thing last off season. Then it got raised by $30 million before the season started.

What he be worth in a trade?

Early 2nd round or late 1st round pick would be my guess.

A top three player on the club and this reerunned OP can’t wait to run him out of town. If the 2025 class of posters all look like this pile of shit, this board is cooked.

McDuffie has no leverage? He can’t sit out?

There’s a reason why you don’t see situations playing out like you envision. It’s not as simple as you’re making it out to be.

He can hold out. Then lose game checks and screw his career. Who wants to pay an aging corner who hasn't played in years?

You can feel that way, but how do the Chiefs benefit if they have a player on the roster of McDuffie’s caliber who isn’t suiting up every week and helping them to win a championship?

That’s what they call “leverage” and why your string-it-out scenario will never happen.

Because the Hunt family is worth 20 billion plus and they are going to print money with or without Trent.

Deion Sanders wasn't getting picked on and getting int's. QB will tend to get the ball to his best wide receiver who is normaly being covered by by the best corner in man coverage.

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Your ignorance of both the Hunt family and how businesses operate is on par with your football takes.

That’s not how it works, no. The person with the most money doesn’t always hold all the leverage.

I don't think it's reasonable to compare McDuffie to Stingley. Stingley is arguably (maybe even not so arguably) the best outside CB in the game today. McDuffie is excellent, even elite, but he's not Stingley and doesn't bring the same things to the table.

He's much more Denzel Ward in that he can play inside or outside. Ward is better outside, and McDuffie is better inside, but they both have the flexibility to move around. The issue is that Ward signed his deal three years ago at 20 AAV.

I'd argue his current rate probably should be in that 22-24 range, but market trends always point North, right? Anything around 4/100 is a major win in his favor, in my opinion. Several corners have signed a 4-year extension heading into year 4 with a 5th-year option already exercised. I'd say this is the time to do it if you're going to do it. Otherwise, I don't think it's necessarily that wrong to consider the probability that he plays out the next two seasons, gets tagged, and we go from there.

I don't know that there is distinct "leverage" one way or another. The player always has the option to sit out and you have him locked to guaranteed money right now. That hurts your team. As a team you have the leverage of controlling him for as much as 4 seasons, but the reality is more likely to be 3. That hurts the player in that he's not getting that big cash payment up front.

Makes me wonder if the Chiefs do a Sneed type of thing with him? Take care of him by trading him away to a partner that’s more willing to give him big money.