The Kansas City Chiefs have the best center in the game. Creed Humphrey has established himself as the top dog at the position for a while now, and it only makes sense that, in due time, he's compensated as such.
However, as much as the Chiefs should want to keep him around for the long run, they might not be too happy with the way the Las Vegas Raiders backed them into a corner with their biggest offseason move.
Giving former Baltimore Ravens center Tyler Lindebaum $27 million a year in free agency shattered the market for centers, with him making 50% more than Humphrey, the previous record-holder. That's why ESPN's Bill Barnwell now expects the Chiefs' superstar to reach $30 million AAV in his next contract extension.
Will the Chiefs make Creed Humphrey the first $30 million center
"Barring a turnaround from Cam Jurgens in Philadelphia, I'd expect Humphrey to be the first center to approach $30 million per season on a new deal, with Linderbaum and (Graham) Barton close behind," Barnwell wrote.
While there's simply no denying that what Humphrey provides is more than worth every penny that might be coming his way, that is a lot of money for a center and a lofty expectation for the Chiefs to do so. The Raiders broke the market by paying Linderbaum left tackle money, and while he's an admittedly very good player, he truly doesn't hold a candle to Humphrey's skill set and consistency.
As we've seen happen way too often in this league, this will only create a ripple effect that will ultimately take a toll on all teams looking to keep or sign big-name centers. The Chiefs can wait until Humphrey's current deal is up in 2028 to get an extension done, and could benefit from waiting, as the league's salary cap increase would mitigate that burden.
Of course, barring a catastrophic injury or a huge scandal off the field, it's hard to imagine any scenario where general manager Brett Veach doesn't do whatever it takes to keep the two-time first-team All-Pro in town for the remainder of his career, but the money entering his pocket has to come from somewhere.
The Chiefs have rarely hesitated to take care of their star players. Patrick Mahomes, Travis Kelce, and Chris Jones are the latest example of that. Then again, one can only wonder whether committing that big a chunk of the salary cap into a handful of players is a sustainable formula.
At the end of the day, the Raiders were a victim of circumstances. As a former first-round pick, Linderbaum was set to make way too much money with the franchise tag, so they had to one-up everyone else to ensure he'd take his talents to Sin City. Just for that, the Chiefs should be even more motivated to beat them twice a year for as long as Linderbaum is there.
Add us as a preferred source on Google