KANSAS CITY, Missouri (AP) — The Kansas City Chiefs and Creed Humphrey have agreed to a four-year, $72 million contract extension that will make him the highest-paid center in NFL history, a person familiar with the deal told The Associated Press Thursday night.
The person, who asked not to be identified because the contract had not yet been signed, said Humphrey would be guaranteed $50 million. Those numbers surpass both the total value of the five-year, $60 million contract the Saints signed with Erik McCoy and the $42 million in guarantees Frank Ragnow received in his four-year, $54 million deal with the Lions.
“We’ve had a lot of good conversations and I’m pretty sure we’ll be signing a contract soon,” Chiefs general manager Brett Veach said Thursday night during a preseason game against Chicago. “It goes without saying that we’re very excited to continue Creed’s career here. He’s been great for our organization and we’ve been very fortunate to have a really good group of young guys and hopefully we can do a little more work with some of these other young guys as well.”
Humphrey was selected by the Chiefs in the second round of the 2021 draft and immediately inserted into the starting lineup, where he not only solidified the interior of a newly rebuilt offensive line but also quickly built a good relationship with quarterback Patrick Mahomes.
He’s also proven himself to be reliable, starting all 51 regular-season games over the past three seasons, the last two of which ended with Humphrey earning a Pro Bowl berth, which he skipped while helping the Chiefs win two straight Super Bowls.
The Chiefs were faced with the prospect of three key players from their 2021 draft class entering the league as free agents: Humphrey, Nick Bolton, also a second-round pick, and Trey Smith, a sixth-round pick. They have expressed interest in signing Bolton, one of the league’s most underrated linebackers, long-term, but given their salary cap space, it could be difficult to retain all three.
Humphrey and most of the Chiefs’ starting lineup sat out their final preseason game against the Bears. They open the regular season on Sept. 5 in a rematch of the AFC Championship Game against the Ravens.
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