The Kansas City Chiefs gave defensive end George Karlaftis a four-year, $88 million extension back in 2025 to tack on the two years that remained on his rookie contract. It was a ton of money at the time, and while he's now just 20th among DEs, his lack of production had been underwhelming to an extent beforehand
Steve Spagnuolo's pass rush has also been, in a word, underwhelming again this season. The players are struggling to finish plays with sacks, and Chris Jones clearly isn't who he once was in his prime. That said, Karlaftis is finally balling.
For the first time in his career, the Purdue product is playing like the All-Pro-caliber talent the Chiefs thought he'd be. Even in a down year by the defense's standards, he's stepping up and proving his worth.
Don’t let Chiefs poor pass rush distract you from George Karlaftis' All-Pro campaign
While Karlafits only has 2.0 sacks in the first seven games of the season, the advanced numbers are more encouraging. He's putting pressure on the line of scrimmage, penetrating, setting up camp in the backfield, and keeping opposing quarterbacks on their toes.
He's got 26 total tackles (12 solo), six tackles for loss, 16 quarterback hits, eight passes defensed, and one forced fumble. He also has 14 run stops, 16 hurries, 34 pressures, and leads all defensive ends in batted passes (5).
Again, Karlaftis must be better at finishing plays than everyone else on the team, but the tape shows he's playing the best football of his career. It took him much longer than expected, but he's finally living up to that big payday of his.
The Chiefs have been far from perfect this season, and the last couple of games have been a tough reality check, especially for the defense. The November 10 trade deadline is looming large, and it's time for general manager Brett Veach to get to work and find some reinforcements.
Patrick Mahomes, Karlaftis, and the young cornerbacks are balling out, and it would be a shame to watch their efforts go to waste in what might be Travis Kelce's final season as a pro. This team is knocking on the door of Super Bowl contention, but they need more firepower.
In the meantime, the Chiefs can trust their star defensive end to hold down the fort and keep the quarterback at bay. One can only wonder how many sacks he'd have had if someone else could actually help him put pressure on the line of scrimmage.
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