Kansas City Chiefs defensive end George Karlaftis gets set on the line of scrimmage during an NFL football game against the Los Angeles Chargers on Dec. 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Peter Aiken)
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In 2025 Kansas City Chiefs defensive end George Karlaftis had his fewest sacks (six) since his rookie year and the fewest passes defended (two) of his career.
But during the final week of 2026 organized team activities, Karlaftis’ position coach — defensive line coach Joe Cullen — revealed a major reason for his downturn. Karlaftis broke his right hand and then had surgery during the bye week after Week Nine before returning to play the very next game.
Although Karlaftis, who is a pretty taciturn individual, was seen with a cast or extra padding on his hand, the extent of the injury was not known.
As he heads into the 2026, he’s feeling much better.
“It’s nice,” Karlaftis said with a laugh. “It’s nice to go into a season healthy.”
Making last season’s more injury more limiting is the fact that Karlaftis emphasizes hand-to-hand combat along the line of scrimmage.
“That was his power hand,” Cullen said.
Karlaftis even trained in hand fighting while working out with former Chiefs Pro Bowler Tamba Hali. They worked with Hali’s martial arts instructor two-to-three times a week at 6 a.m. at Hali’s home in Overland Park, Kan.
A Married Man
In addition to feeling better physically, the 25-year-old Karlaftis is probably in a good frame of mind after getting married in his native Greece during May.
“It was awesome,” Karlaftis said, “one of the best days — if not the best day — of my life.”
Many of his teammates made the trip to Greece, including Chris Jones. Defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo attended and was able to reconnect with former Chiefs cornerback Trent McDuffie, who signed a four-year, $124 million contract with the Los Angeles Rams, and linebacker Leo Chenal, who signed a three-year, $24.75 million deal with the Washington Commanders.
Karlaftis signed his own lucrative deal — for four years and $88 million — before the 2025 season, coming off an eight-sack season.
The Chiefs are hoping he returns to that form in 2026.
D-Line Help Via The Draft
Helping Karlaftis further will be pass-rush reinforcements on the defensive line. The Chiefs spent two of their first three picks on defensive linemen — first-rounder Peter Woods and second-rounder R Mason Thomas.
“I love it,” Karlaftis said.
Karlaftis’ enthusiasm is not just talk. In mid-May he converted $9.685 million of his 2026 salary into signing bonus, creating $7.7 million of cap space for the Chiefs, which will help them sign all their players in the draft class.
Those draft picks plus a healthy Karlaftis should reinvigorate a defense, which generated just 35 sacks, tying for the seventh worst mark in the NFL in 2025. Moreover, the Chiefs created pressure on only 39.8% of its blitzes, per NextGenStats, which ranked 22nd in league.
“It wasn’t our best year as a d-line,” Karlaftis said. “And it wasn’t our best year as a team.”
But the Chiefs, who finished 6-11 in 2025, are optimistic that both the pass rush — as a whole — and Karlaftis — as an individual — will be better in 2026.
“I’m excited for him to have a great year,” Cullen said.