The Kansas City Chiefs are trying to bounce back after a difficult 2025 season. They finished 6-11, their worst record since 2012, snapping a playoff streak that had lasted more than a decade.
Patrick Mahomes and the offense didn’t really click, but one Kansas City man was locked in the entire time.
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Long snapper James Winchester returns for his 12th season. The Chiefs brought him back and retained the team’s longest-tenured player. At least until we find out what’s going on with Travis Kelce.
According to NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport, Winchester agreed to a fully guaranteed one-year contract worth $1.75 million, maintaining his status as the highest-paid long snapper in the league.
Winchester’s run in Kansas City has turned into one of the franchise’s quietest success stories. He is now 36 years old and earned the starting job in 2015 after a training camp battle.
He hasn’t given up on it since. He will be 37 years old by the start of the 2026 season, but he is still getting the job done.
He is one of only four players on the current 90-man offseason roster to have played in all three of Kansas City’s most recent Super Bowl wins.
The others are Mahomes, Harrison Butker, and Chris Jones. Winchester was also there in January.
He appeared in 25 postseason games, the most in Kelce and franchise history. Not bad for the long snappers that keep showing up.
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