Travis Kelce Extends Contract With a Whopping $34M Raise, Becoming the Highest-Paid Tight End in NFL

Four-time All-Pro tight end Travis Kelce and the Kansas City Chiefs have reached a two-year agreement. According to NFL Media, the 34-year-old star footballer's previous contract, which had two years and $30.25 million left on it, has been replaced with a new $34.25 million agreement through the 2025 season. According to CBS Sports, Kelce is now guaranteed $17 million in 2024 and will average $17.125 million over the next two seasons, making him the highest-paid tight end in the league. 

As per The US Sun, Patrick Mahomes, the quarterback for the Chiefs, expressed his joy at the news on X. He remarked, "I told you all I'll never let him leave!! "Congrats my guy! @tkelce." Kelce fell 16 yards short of reaching the 1,000-yard milestone last season, breaking his streak from 2016-22. Due to a knee injury, he was sidelined for the Chiefs' opening game of the season and rested for their last game. In the four playoff games that Kansas City played, Kelce recorded four touchdown passes, which contributed to the team's second consecutive Super Bowl victory. The tight end declared that he would return for the opportunity to three-peat after the team won the Super Bowl in February. 

"A special day and moment in this organization...this is something we just wanted to knock right out of the park early on," general manager Brett Veach said via a Zoom call. He added, “Hard to put into words what Travis means to this organization and this city,” as per AP News. “Every now and then you have one of these guys that are outliers... and Travis is one of those players. It’s not even May yet and today we had a chance to get out there in phase two (of the offseason) and Travis was the first one in line.” Kelce had earlier shut down retirement rumors, asserting, “I have no reason to stop playing football. I love it.”

“The odds of someone playing this far into their 30s is low,” Veach acknowledged, “but it does happen. There are unicorns in the profession and Travis is one of those. He’s shown no signs of slowing down.” A week after the Chiefs revealed they had extended the contracts of Veach, coach Andy Reid, and team president Mark Donovan, Kelce received his deal. Although the duration of those agreements was not disclosed by the organization, it is anticipated that the three key leaders will remain with the squad until the 2029 campaign.

Under contract through the 2031 season is Mahomes, whom Kelce regards as a close mate. Their third player, defensive tackle Chris Jones, an All-Pro, inked a five-year, $158.75 million contract in March. “We do have some younger guys coming up and like always, once the draft settles down, we’ll have a chance to address that,” GM Veach explained. “When you talk about Travis and his career and his legacy here, this is something we wanted to knock out of the park early on and shift our focus onto the young guys coming up.”