As it turns out, the Kansas City Chiefs made sure linebacker Nick Bolton would not hit the NFL’s free agency period, which officially starts on Wednesday.
News dropped Sunday evening that the three-time defending AFC champions and one of their top young defensive players reached an agreement on a three-year, $45 million contract that includes $30 million in guarantees.
Up until then, there had been speculation within the media that Bolton could leave the Chiefs if he became a free agent. As recently as last week, BetMissouri gave the Cincinnati Bengals odds of +200 to sign him and odds of +300 for him to stay in Kansas City.
What Team Will Nick Bolton Sign With?
Team | Percentage Chance |
Kansas City Chiefs | 100% |
Odds are exclusive to BetMissouri.com and are not expected to be available on Missouri sports betting apps once live.
Bolton led the Chiefs this past season with 106 tackles, 73 solo tackles and 11 tackles for loss. As an off-the-ball linebacker, he typically played in coverage and gravitating to where the play was developing. He also defended six passes, intercepted a pass, forced a fumble and recovered two.
He did miss nine games in 2023 due to a broken wrist he suffered in practice, but Bolton returned in time to play in all four postseason games that season. The linebacker made 40 tackles as the Chiefs defended their Super Bowl title.
Kansas City is not the favorite to win the Super Bowl next season, but they remain high on the futures board at BetMGM. Their odds of +750 are tied for the third shortest with the Buffalo Bills. The Philadelphia Eagles are the favorites to defend their title, with odds of +650, and the Baltimore Ravens have odds of +700.
According to data from Sportrac, Bolton signed one of the richest contracts for linebackers given out so far this offseason.
Highest Paid Linebackers for 2025 Season
Rank | Team | $ Value |
1 | Bradley Chubb | $54,490,000 |
2 | Zack Braun | $51,000,000 |
3 | Terrel Bernard | $50,000,000 |
T4 | Nick Bolton | $45,000,000 |
T4 | Jamien Sherwood | $45,000,000 |
6 | Harold Landry | $43,500.000 |
7 | Ernest Jones | $33,000,000 |
8 | Derrick Barnes | $24,000,000 |
9 | Baron Browning | $15,000,000 |
10 | Bobby Wagner | $9,500,000 |
Bolton is not the only player Kansas City has reached an agreement with so far in the free agency period. The Chiefs snatched a pair of players from the San Francisco 49ers in offensive tackle Jaylon Moore and running back Elijah Mitchell, and they signed cornerback Kristian Fulton away from the Los Angeles Chargers.
Moore played in 55 games with the Niners over four years, starting in 12 of those. While he has played 15 games in 2024, he only saw action in 271 plays, or 29% of the 49ers’ snaps. KC expects Moore to be the team’s starting left tackle and protect Patrick Mahomes’ blindside. Mahomes is coming off a season when he passed for 3,928 yards – his fewest in seven seasons as a starter – and was sacked a career-high 36 times.
Mitchell did not play this past season due to a hamstring injury. Prior to that, his best season in the Bay Area came in 2021, when he ran for 963 yards and five touchdowns during 11 games in his rookie season. Durability may be an issue as he has yet to play in more than 11 games in any season, but Kansas City needed to sign a running back after Samaje Perine agreed to terms with the Cincinnati Bengals.
Fulton is a five-year veteran who played with Tennessee for four years before going to the Chargers last season. He had one interception and seven passes defended last season in a career-high 15 games. The former LSU player also made a career-high 51 tackles.
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Author
Steve is an accomplished, award-winning reporter with more than 20 years of experience covering gaming, sports, politics and business. He has written for the Associated Press, Reuters, The Louisville Courier Journal, The Center Square and numerous other publications. Based in Louisville, Ky., Steve has covered the expansion of sports betting in the U.S. and other gaming matters.
