In a somewhat surprising turn of events, the Kansas City Chiefs signed Travis Kelce to a three-year, $54.75 million contract that can go as high as $57.7 million.
However, that doesn’t mean that Kelce will play it through. This will most likely still be his final season in the league, regardless of what his contract says.
According to Chiefs insider Charles Goldman, the organization took all this time to announce the deal and structured it this way so they could have enough financial flexibility to prepare for any scenario, all while still doing right by their future Hall of Famer:
“What exactly is the goal behind doing that? For the team, it’s to pay Kelce what he’s worth and what he’s owed in 2026 without incurring an absurd salary cap hit, while also preparing for any possibility that may arise in the future,” Goldman explained.
Kelce will make $12 million in his first season, with up to $3 million in incentives. Then, they will use the 50 percent rule, which states that a player’s salary and bonuses can’t be less than the remaining prorated portion of his signing bonus for that season, to add two void years to his deal.
Simply put, the Chiefs can use Kelce’s 2026 and 2027 salaries as optional signing bonuses to spread over the final year of the contract. That way, they can cut him as a post-June 1 or place him on the reserve/retired deal to void the remaining $40 million of his contract while taking just $7 million in dead money spread in 2027 and 2028.
Kelce’s deal will count just roughly $5 million against the cap in 2026, and he’ll have a $6 million roster bonus and a $3 million training camp bonus.
The Chiefs would obviously welcome Kelce back for as many years as he’s willing to play. But if this is truly the end of the line for him, GM Brett Veach deserves some praise for thinking outside of the box with this contract.