The Chiefs signed Travis Kelce to a two-year contract extension on Monday that common supervisor Brett Veach mentioned would make him the league’s highest-paid tight finish whereas holding him with the Tremendous Bowl champions via the 2027 season.
Kelce signed a four-year, $57.25m extension with Kansas Metropolis in 2020, which adopted a $46m, five-year deal that he signed in 2016. The brand new extension would preserve the 34-year-old Kelce with the membership till he’s 38 years previous.
Veach didn’t present a monetary breakdown of the newest extension, however he did name it a precedence to “modify his contract” and that “it is vitally becoming that Travis is now the highest-paid tight finish in these two years”.
ESPN reported the deal is value $34.25m with $17m totally assured for this season and many of the relaxation to be assured on the third day of the 2025 league 12 months.
In a video posted to X by the Chiefs, Kelce mentioned it was “an honor and a pleasure and I can’t wait to get after it these subsequent two years … Chiefs endlessly”.
“Exhausting to place into phrases what Travis means to this group and this metropolis,” Veach advised native reporters on Zoom. “Only a actually big day and second for this group to as soon as once more acknowledge arguably one of many biggest tight ends to ever do it.”
Kelce, who was chosen by the Chiefs within the third spherical of the 2013 draft, already is their profession chief with 11,328 yards receiving. He wants eight receptions to achieve 917 and move Corridor of Fame tight finish Tony Gonzalez for that report, and three landing catches would give him 77, dropping Gonzalez to No 2 on that franchise checklist.
Most significantly, Kelce has helped Kansas Metropolis win back-to-back Tremendous Bowls and three titles previously 5 years.
“From time to time you have got one in all these guys which are outliers,” Veach mentioned, “and Travis is a kind of gamers. It’s not even Might but and right now we had an opportunity to get on the market in part two (off the offseason) and Travis was the primary one in line.”
It’s not simply on the sphere the place Kelce is a star, both.
His relationship with pop icon Taylor Swift has taken him to a different stage of movie star, whereas appearances on exhibits reminiscent of Saturday Night time Stay have helped to make him a family title. He hosts one of the fashionable podcasts throughout a number of genres together with his brother and former Eagles heart Jason Kelce, and he’ll quickly host a quiz present on Amazon Prime.
Nevertheless it all started on the sphere, the place Kelce has lengthy been thought-about top-of-the-line tight ends within the recreation.
He missed the season opener with a knee damage final season, and he skipped the regular-season finale when the Chiefs already have been assured of their playoff seeding. These two video games value him the prospect to increase his streak of 1,000-yard seasons to eight; he completed with 984 yards on 93 catches with 5 landing receptions.
When the postseason rolled round, Kelce as soon as once more took his efficiency to a different stage.
He had seven catches for 71 yards in a wild-card win over Miami, the fourth-coldest recreation in NFL historical past. He had 5 catches for 75 yards and two scores in a divisional win in Buffalo. He had 11 catches for 116 yards and a landing within the AFC title recreation in Baltimore, and capped all of it with 9 catches for 93 yards within the Tremendous Bowl towards San Francisco.
Alongside the way in which, Kelce batted down rumors of retirement, saying: “I’ve no motive to cease enjoying soccer. I find it irresistible.”
“The percentages of somebody enjoying this far into their 30s is low,” Veach acknowledged, “however it does occur. There are unicorns within the career and Travis is a kind of. He’s proven no indicators of slowing down.”
The extension for Kelce comes one week after the Chiefs introduced that they had signed Veach, coach Andy Reid group president Mark Donovan to contract extensions. The group didn’t say how lengthy these offers would final, however they’re anticipated to maintain the three most central management figures with the franchise via the 2029 season.
Patrick Mahomes, whom Kelce considers one in all his closest associates, is below contract via the 2031 season. All-Professional defensive sort out Chris Jones, the third piece of their three-player core, signed a five-year, $158.75m deal in March.
Mahomes celebrated the extension by posting to X, “I advised yall I’ll by no means let him go away!! Congrats my man! @tkelce”.
Together with rewarding Kelce for his continued superlative play, Veach pointed to a number of younger gamers who will probably be due contract extensions within the subsequent couple of years as one more reason for getting the tight finish’s long-term scenario sorted out.
“We do have some youthful guys arising and like at all times, as soon as the draft settles down, we’ll have an opportunity to handle that,” he mentioned. “Travis is an outlier right here. Everyone knows that. Once you speak about Travis and his profession and his legacy right here, that is one thing we needed to knock out of the park early on and shift our focus onto the younger guys arising.”
