Chiefs re-sign offensive lineman Nick Allegretti

According to friend-of-the-site Herbie Teope of the Kansas City Star, the Kansas City Chiefs have re-signed interior offensive lineman Nick Allegretti.

Selected out of the University of Illinois in the seventh round (216th overall) of the 2019 NFL Draft, Allegretti can back up Creed Humphrey at center, along with Joe Thuney and Trey Smith at the left and right guard positions. To Kansas City head coach Andy Reid (and offensive line coach Andy Heck), that makes him a valuable offensive lineman.

We don’t yet have the full details for Allegretti’s new contract — but since he’s just finished his rookie contract (and we know it is a one-year deal), he would be a prime candidate for the four-year player-qualifying version of a veteran salary benefit (VSB) contract.

As our Jared Sapp noted in his recent article about these kinds of deals — which general manager Brett Veach uses frequently — the Chiefs gave such a deal to backup offensive lineman Andrew Wylie in 2022, allowing the team to pay him $2.5 million, but have just $1.2 million charged against the salary cap.

That’s just the kind of move Kansas City would make for a player who has appeared in 57 games (starting 12 of them) in his four-year NFL career.

Unless wide receiver Mecole Hardman is also re-signed, this would make Allegretti — the last player the Chiefs picked in 2019 — the only member of that draft class who remains on the team. The others were safety Juan Thornhill, defensive tackle Khalen Saunders, running back Darwin Thompson and cornerback Rashad Fenton.