Travis Kelce contract, explained: Why Chiefs reportedly signed aging tight end to 3-year instead of shorter term originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
The Kansas City Chiefs and Travis Kelce had agreed to a deal that would keep him with the franchise for the 2026 season. Initially, NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport had said that it was a one-year deal worth $12 million, which made sense given the veteran tight end has mulled retirement after each of the last two seasons.
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The surprise of the contract came on Monday, March 23, when Rapoport reported that it had been signed, but it wasn’t a one-year deal. Instead, Kelce signed a reported three-year extension worth nearly $55 million.
This is an extremely misleading way to discuss the contract that Kelce got. With that in mine, here is more on the three-year deal that the tight end signed with the Chiefs and what it really means.
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Travis Kelce contract
Kelce was initially reported to be returning to Kansas City on a one-year deal worth $12 million. While that is the case, it was reported on March 23 that the deal is actually a three-year extension worth $54.735 million.
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The first year is still worth $12 million, but it also comes with up to $3 million in incentives. The contract is just a way for the Chiefs to manipulate the cap. Kelce is not under contract for three years, and he is not getting $54 million. He is under contract for three years because his one-year, $12 million deal is spread out over three years using what are called void years in the NFL.
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What are void years?
There are several ways for teams to manipulate a player’s cap hit in the NFL. One of them is by using void years, which are akin to MLB’s deferred payments. Void years are years that the player is not actually under contract with the team, but they are used to spread out the impact of a signing bonus to help alleviate the cap hit.
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For Kelce specifically, his fully guaranteed $12 million is spread over three years, significantly lowering his cap hit this season, allowing the Chiefs more flexibility to use money elsewhere.
When will Travis Kelce retire?
Only Kelce knows the answer to that. The tight end has mulled retirement each of the last two offseasons. He is 36 years old, but isn’t too close to becoming the oldest tight end to ever play in an NFL game. That honor belongs to Marcedes Lewis, who suited up for the Denver Broncos in 2025 at 41 years old.
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How old is Travis Kelce?
Kelce was born on October 5, 1989. He is 36 years old and will turn 37 during the middle of the 2026 NFL season.
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Travis Kelce career earnings
Here is a look at how much money Kelce has made in his career so far.
Year
Cash Total
Cash Cumulative
2013
$1,108,304
$1,108,304
2014
$531,000
$1,639,304
2015
$678,000
$2,317,304
2016
$10,646,000
$12,963,304
2017
$3,418,750
$16,382,504
2018
$8,050,000
$24,432,054
2019
$8,750,000
$33,182,054
2020
$9,294,294
$42,476,348
2021
$11,805,872
$54,282,220
2022
$10,500,000
$64,782,220
2023
$12,161,755
$76,943,975
2024
$17,000,000
$93,943,975
2025
$17,250,279
$111,194,254
Total
$111,194,254
$111,194,254