In recent seasons, the Kansas City Chiefs‘ defense has grown in popularity. Part of that coincided with some decline on offense, but Steve Spagnuolo’s group legitimately deserves the respect it currently gets around the league.

If you ask the Chiefs, one of the major reasons why is linebacker Nick Bolton. Regarded by many as the leader of the defense, Bolton gets nods as Kansas City’s on-field coach frequently.

Early in 2025 training camp, though, Spagnuolo is taking that praise to an entirely new level.

Speaking to the media following practice on July 23, Spagnuolo dropped the comparison to end all comparisons. He likened his leading linebacker to quarterback Patrick Mahomes.

“Yeah, he’s just about everything,” Spagnuolo said. “He’s Patrick Mahomes for us. I’ve said this before and we’re pretty multiple defensively, so if we don’t have that guy, it gets really challenging. You know back when we didn’t know we were getting Nick – I had to in my mind, I was preparing, if we don’t have Nick, what do we do? It’s just not the same. So, thank God he’s here.”

The latter part of Spagnuolo’s statement is referring to earlier this offseason. Following the conclusion of the 2024-25 campaign, the Chiefs found themselves needing to either re-sign Bolton or find a suitable replacement. Those potential avenues – free agency, trade and the NFL Draft – are much riskier than bringing back a proven commodity.

Luckily for the team, Bolton wound up re-signing on a three-year, $45 million deal that makes him one of football’s highest-paid linebackers. His $15M average annual value is tied with New York Jets standout Jamien Sherwood for the fifth-most for a deal in the NFL.

Since joining the Chiefs back in 2021, Bolton has done quite a bit in his career. In four seasons, the former Missouri star already has 458 tackles (32 for loss) with 15 passes broken up and 4 interceptions. After missing half the 2023 regular season due to injury, he bounced back last year by logging over 1,000 snaps from Week 1 through Super Bowl LIX.