It's rare for a team to drop a player's remaining contract years and replace them with more contract years. In a highly unusual move, Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce's new two-year contract was a two-year extension of his existing contract.
The reality is that the Chiefs will forfeit their remaining two years and spend two new years, just like the Rams did with Aaron Donald two years ago. The Chiefs gave Kelce an unconditional $4 million raise in 2024, giving him a boost. His salary will be $17 million. The $17.5 million he is scheduled to make in 2025 will become fully guaranteed on the third day of the 2025 league year.
The seeds of a contract amendment are said to have been planted during the season. Kelce's agent made his feelings known to the Chiefs during the 2023 season.
These sentiments go back to comments Kelce made when he said: vanity fair last summer.
“My managers and agents love to tell me how low my salary is,” Kelce said at the time. “Every time I say I want more money, they're like, 'Why don't you go and ask the Chiefs?'” . . When you see how much more money you can make, yeah, it's a little bit gut-wrenching. It makes me think. It's being used. I don't know if I really stepped on the gas to get what was worth the quote. ”
he didn't need to step on the gas with holdout. he, new heights A podcast about patience not being his style.
And while there was never serious talk of him retiring, the idea that Kelce could graduate to life after football should have at least crossed the team's mind. He has already made a huge amount of money in the field. If he paid $13 million, he might have decided he wasn't worth it. For $17 million, he decided.
Kelce has emphasized that he will be with the Chiefs for two years, but in 2025 both will fall completely into the “undecided” category. Kelce, for example, would likely turn down a $30 million offer to star in an action movie to be filmed on Bora Bora from August to November 2025. For the Chiefs, the three-day grace period before his 2025 salary is guaranteed gives them a grace period to fairly assess whether a major regression has begun for Kelce, who turns 35 on Oct. 5. .
If the Chiefs don't want to at least retain that option, his 2025 salary would be fully guaranteed from the start. And if this were simply a matter of next year's funding, the guarantees would have been finalized right after the next Super Bowl.
It will obviously be an opportunity for the Chiefs to evaluate and make a decision after the season. Kelce will also do it.
Given his situation off the field, there could be a big enough opportunity for him to answer within the next nine months. Then open the door. And then off, stage football.
