Report: KC Chiefs Re-Signing DL Tershawn Wharton to One-Year Contract

Kansas City reunites with one of its own free agents, bringing Tershawn Wharton back for the 2024-25 campaign.

The Kansas City Chiefs' activity on the free agent market has been relatively quiet, but the club is reuniting with one of its in-house free agents on Thursday.

Per an afternoon report from Jordan Schultz of Bleacher Report, Kansas City is re-signing defensive lineman Tershawn Wharton to a one-year contract. The deal is fully guaranteed for the 2024-25 campaign and is worth $2.75 million. His cap hit will be significantly lower via the four-year player qualifying offer. 

Free agent pass rusher Tershawn Wharton is re-signing with the #Chiefs on a 1-year, $2.75M fully guaranteed deal, sources tell @BleacherReport.

Wharton had 2 sacks, 5 QB hits and a FR last season with Kansas City. pic.twitter.com/APuFe3SHlT

— Jordan Schultz (@Schultz_Report) March 14, 2024

Wharton, 25, recently wrapped up his fourth season with the Chiefs. The Missouri S&T product entered the league as an undrafted rookie free agent in 2020, latching on with Kansas City and playing a supporting role along the defensive line ever since. In 55 career regular-season contests, he has 85 tackles (seven for loss) with 15 quarterback hits, three forced fumbles and two fumble recoveries. 

Seth Keysor wrote about Wharton's 2023 season in The Chief in the North and explained why he'd bring Wharton back "if the money is right."

Wharton quietly had a really nice Super Bowl that capped off a solid playoff run. He’s a purely rotational guy (and not a high level one to this point in his career), but he can play with solid functional strength against the run (when not facing double teams) and has the occasional pass-rush win in him. He’s also made some strides under Joe Cullen once he got healthy.

After missing most of the 2022 season with a knee injury, Wharton returned and played all of this past season. In 17 games, he recorded 21 tackles and tied his previous career high with two sacks in the regular season. Playing 399 snaps for Steve Spagnuolo's defense, Wharton was on the field for 37% of available reps. In the playoffs, he logged 124 reps en route to a Super Bowl LVIII win over the San Francisco 49ers. 

Wharton brings familiarity and versatility to Kansas City's defensive line. The soon-to-be fifth-year man is capable of playing a bit on the outside of the front in addition to his primary role on the interior. Now converted to more of a defensive tackle, the 280-pounder will complement players like defensive end George Karlaftis, tackle Chris Jones and others in the Chiefs' pass rush rotation for the upcoming season.

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