For a few weeks this offseason, it seemed possible that Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce could retire from the NFL. But Kelce put those rumors to rest in mid-March, as reports emerged that he would sign aone-year, $12 million dealto return to the Chiefs.
Turns out, Kelce has more football left in him than anyone expected. Kelce reportedly signed athree-year, $54.7 million contractwith Kansas City on Monday, per NFL Network. A deeper dive into his contract, however, reveals those figures are a bit exaggerated.
The Chiefs confirmed Kelce signed a contract Monday, though did not provide financial details of Kelce's new deal.
Kelce will reportedly make $12 million in Year 1 of the contract, per NFL Network.
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The 36-year-old Kelce is coming off somewhat of a resurgent season with the Chiefs, in which he had 851 receiving yards and scored five touchdowns. The majority of that production came when quarterback Patrick Mahomes — who missed the team's final four regular-season games due to a knee injury — was on the field.
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Once Mahomes was lost for the season, Kelce hauled in 16 passes for 124 yards and no scores.
Following the final game of the regular season, Kelce was non-committal about his future, leading some to believe he would consider retirement. Monday's reported contract suggests Kelce has no desire to walk away from the game soon, though there's a bit of a catch with his new contract.
Signing on for three years, however, doesn't mean Kelce will stick it out for the entirety of the contract. The Chiefs apparently planned for that, as $40 million of the deal is fully guaranteed if Kelce is still on the Chiefs' roster in June of 2027.
That essentially makes the contract a one-year deal, as the Chiefs won't let that $40 million guarantee hit next year. The Chiefs likely added that figure for salary-cap reasons.
That doesn't mean Kelce is going to retire after the 2026 season. Depending on how things go, he can renegotiate with the Chiefs next offseason if he wants to stick around. But the team almost certainly will not allow that $40 million in guaranteed money to hit.
At this point in his career, Kelce doesn't have anything more to prove. He's a future Hall of Famer who has won three Super Bowl championships and will go down as one of the best tight ends ever once he finally calls it quits.
Until then, Kelce is committed to leading the Chiefs to another Super Bowl title in 2026. Anything beyond that, and it will be up to both sides to figure out whether they want to run it back.