Punter Matt Araiza and offensive lineman Mike Caliendo will both be back with Kansas City in 2025.
On Friday, the Kansas City Chiefs made contract tenders to two of their exclusive rights free agents (ERFAs): punter Matt Araiza and offensive lineman Mike Caliendo.
Each has been offered a contract at the league minimum for their credited seasons. For Araiza, that is $960,000. For Caliendo, that is $1.03 million. This contract tender ties the player’s rights to the team for the coming season. The overwhelming majority of ERFAs sign these tenders.
Araiza joined the team in 2024, appearing in all 17 regular-season games, averaging 48.8 yards per punt and placing 40% of them inside the opponent’s 20-yard line.
Caliendo is beginning his fourth year with the Chiefs after joining the team as an undrafted free agent in 2022. After spending his rookie season on the practice squad, he appeared in eight games in 2023 and all 17 games in 2024 — mostly as a special-teams contributor. He started the last three (and all three postseason games) at left guard in place of Joe Thuney, who started those games at left tackle.
Placekicker Spencer Shrader — who finished the 2024 season on the team’s Reserve/Injured list after appearing in two games while Harrison Butker was injured — is now the team’s only ERFA without a contract tender.