After agreeing to trade for Trent McDuffie, the Rams have now reached an agreement on a contract extension with the cornerback.
McDuffie has agreed to a four-year, $124 million extension that includes $100 million guaranteed, according to ESPN’s Adam Schefter.
The initial reported numbers indicate the new deal will make McDuffie the highest-paid cornerback in the league with an average annual value of $31 million in new money.
McDuffie, 25, spent his first four seasons with the Chiefs, winning a pair of Super Bowls with the club. He was an AP first-team All-Pro honoree in 2023.
McDuffie has recorded 34 passes defensed, eight forced fumbles, 5.5 sacks, and three interceptions in his career.
The trade to send him from the Chiefs to the Rams will become official this week with the start of the new league year.
Cornerback Trent McDuffie is set to officially join the Rams in a trade with the Chiefs this week and he could also have a new contract soon.
NFL Media reports that McDuffie and the Rams have made “significant progress” toward a long-term extension that would make him the league’s highest-paid cornerback. There is hope that the deal will be done in the near future.
Sauce Gardner of the Colts is currently at the top of the cornerback pay chart with an average annual salary of $30.1 million per year.
McDuffie is currently in the fifth year of his rookie deal and set to make $13.632 million for the 2026 season.
The Rams agreed to trade the 29th overall pick in this year’s draft along with 2026 fifth- and sixth-round picks and a 2027 third-round pick to Kansas City for McDuffie. The trade can become official at the start of the new league year on Wednesday.
The first question for veteran tight end Travis Kelce is whether he’ll play in 2026. Implicit in that question is whether he’ll play for the Chiefs.
Lost in the will-he-or-won’t-he is the reality that his contract expires this week. He’s a free agent, able to freely negotiate with other teams as of Monday.
There has been no indication that another team plans to aggressively pursue him once the negotiating window opens at noon ET on March 9. But any team can.
It’s impossible to imagine Kelce wearing a different uniform. He has played for the Chiefs continuously, in a career that began in 2013. His career went to the next level once Patrick Mahomes became the starting quarterback in 2018, sparking five Super Bowl appearances and three championships.
Still, money talks. If the Chiefs don’t want to pay very much for another season and another team shows up with a significant offer, will that get Kelce’s attention? Matt Nagy, who has worked for the Chiefs throughout Kelce’s career, is now the offensive coordinator of the Giants. Although Kelce’s post-football career hardly needs a New York City bump, it couldn’t hurt to finish up in the nation’s top market with a team that is trying to build something positive.
How about his hometown Browns? He could see that as an attractive way to close out his career, if he thinks the Chiefs aren’t realistically in the Super Bowl window for 2026.
The Chiefs missed the postseason last year. Are they closer to being a non-playoff team than they are to being a Super Bowl champion? Kelce could be making a clear-eyed, objective assessment of that question before putting pen to paper.
It all comes down to what Kelce wants to do. The reality is that, as of Monday, he can do whatever he wants — including agreeing to terms with a different team. Until he says he’s playing for the Chiefs, there’s a non-zero chance he’ll be playing for someone else.
Here’s something to remember: Kelce is a superstar who transcends the gridiron. Wherever he plays, he also brings with him the Taylor Swift factor.
Regardless of how he advances the team’s on-field prospect, Kelce would be GREAT for business. And football is above all else a business. Why wouldn’t any football business that wants to maximum earnings consider trying to go into business with Travis Kelce?
The Chiefs are bringing long snapper James Winchester back for the 2026 season.
Ian Rapoport of NFL Media reports that they have agreed on a one-year deal with Winchester. The deal calls for Winchester to make $1.75 million.
Winchester was the highest-paid long snapper during the 2025 season and he remains at the top of the list with this deal.
Winchester has played in all 181 regular season games and 25 playoff games that the Chiefs have played since he joined the team in 2015. Winchester, who has 17 career tackles, is tied for 11th in franchise history in regular season games played.
On draft day in 2025, all 32 teams began the first round with their original pick in place. This year is a whole lot different.
Five teams have two first-round picks in the 2026 NFL draft, and five other teams have none, after the Raiders got the Ravens’ 2026 and 2027 first-round picks by agreeing to trade Maxx Crosby.
The Raiders have their own first-round pick (No. 1 overall) and the Ravens’ first-round pick (No. 14).
The Jets have their own first-round pick (No. 2) and the Colts’ first-round pick (No. 16) from the Sauce Gardner trade.
The Browns have their own first-round pick (No. 6) and the Jaguars’ first-round pick (No. 24) from last year’s draft-day trade that allowed the Jaguars to draft Travis Hunter.
The Chiefs have their own first-round pick (No. 9) and the Rams’ first-round pick (No. 29) from the Trent McDuffie trade.
The Cowboys have their own first-round pick (No. 12) and the Packers’ first-round pick (No. 20) from the Micah Parsons trade.
Five other teams don’t have a first-round pick: The Falcons, Ravens, Colts, Packers and Jaguars.
The teams with two first-round picks all missed the playoffs last season and know they have some rebuilding to do. Those picks can be their building blocks.
