Chiefs make Creed Humphrey NFL’s highest-paid center with 4-year, $72 million deal, AP source says….

(AP) — KANSAS CITY, MO According to a person with knowledge of the agreement who spoke with The Associated Press on Thursday night,

Creed Humphrey and the Kansas City Chiefs have reached an agreement on a four-year, $72 million extension that will make him the highest-paid center in NFL history.

Due to the pending signature of the contract, the source, who insisted on remaining anonymous, said Humphrey would receive a $50 million guarantee. These totals surpass both the $42 million in guarantees Frank Ragnow received on his four-year, $54 million contract with the Lions and the $60 million, five-year pact the Saints signed with Erik McCoy.

During a preseason game against Chicago on Thursday night, Chiefs general manager Brett Veach stated, “We’ve had a lot of good dialogue and I’m pretty sure we will put pen to paper soon.”

It goes without saying that we are thrilled to have Creed continue his career here. He’s been fantastic for our company, and as you can see, we’ve been really lucky to have a great bunch of young guys. Hopefully, we can work with some of these other young guys a little bit more as well.

After being selected by the Chiefs in the second round of the 2021 draft, Humphrey entered the game right away, solidifying the interior of a revamped offensive line and demonstrating quickness.

Over the previous three seasons, he has started every one of the 51 regular-season games, demonstrating his dependability. Humphrey missed out on going to the Pro Bowl during the Chiefs’ two consecutive Super Bowl victories, but the last two concluded with him winning trips there.

The Chiefs were facing the possibility of losing three valuable players in Humphrey, fellow second-round selection Nick Bolton, and sixth-round selection Trey Smith to free agency in 2021. Bolton, one of the league’s underappreciated linebackers, has being courted for a long-term contract, but considering their salary cap space, it may be challenging to retain all three.

Humphrey was not playing in the Chiefs’ preseason finale versus the Bears, nor were most of their starters. They take on the Ravens to start the regular season.