{"id":496626,"date":"2026-03-24T01:18:35","date_gmt":"2026-03-24T02:18:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=496626"},"modified":"2026-03-24T04:23:04","modified_gmt":"2026-03-24T04:23:04","slug":"travis-kelce-makes-83m-nfl-call-with-an-odd-twist","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=496626","title":{"rendered":"Travis Kelce makes $83m NFL call, with an odd twist"},"content":{"rendered":"

After much speculation about whether he would retire<\/a> from the NFL<\/a>, Travis Kelce has decided to return to the Kansas City Chiefs<\/a>, but has stunned many by signing a three-year deal. <\/p>\n

And that three-year extension is worth a mammoth $82.6m\ufeff, but there's a strong likelihood he won't see the majority of that money.<\/p>\n

The legendary tight end will earn $17.2m of that deal in 2026, with the potential to make an extra $4.2m if he meets unknown incentives. \ufeff<\/p>\n

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\"\"<\/p>\n

But beyond the 2026-2027 season, the majority of that money could simply vanish into thin air, whether he's cut by the Chiefs or if he opts to retire. \ufeff<\/p>\n

At this point it's worth mentioning that the NFL salary cap is hopelessly complicated.<\/p>\n

The way Kelce's deal is structured, he will likely be cut or placed on the reserve\/retired list in June of 2027, thus voiding the remainder of the deal, but allowing him to pocket effectively $5m across 2027 and 2028.<\/p>\n

The Chiefs have done all of this for cap purposes, giving them flexibility and avoiding dead money in those final two years.<\/p>\n

So in all likelihood, he will make the $17.2m next season, retire, and then receive $5m spread across those next two years post retirement. He won't see the remaining $65m. As much as it looked good on paper.<\/p>\n

The Chiefs will be on the hook for the remainder of the contract if he is still on their roster come June 8, 2027.\ufeff<\/p>\n

\ufeffRegardless, Kelce's decision to continue playing comes as somewhat of a surprise.<\/p>\n

https:\/\/x.com\/Chiefs\/status\/2036170160156119422?s=20<\/a><\/p>\n

One of the great tight ends of the 21st century, the 36-year-old has won three Super Bowls with the Chiefs and made 11 Pro Bowls. Later in 2026, he will marry billionaire musician Taylor Swift<\/a>.\ufeff<\/p>\n

Many expected Kelce to hang up his cleats when his contract expired at the end of the 2025-2026 season.<\/p>\n

It was a rocky season for the Chiefs, with quarterback Patrick Mahomes tearing his ACL halfway through<\/a>.<\/p>\n

They won six games and missed the playoffs for the first time in the Mahomes-Kelce era.<\/p>\n

\ufeffMahomes is expected to be ready for the start of the next season, but will naturally be in some doubt given the significant knee injury.<\/p>\n

It may end up being one final run for the pair, who have played in five Super Bowls together since 2020. \ufeff<\/p>\n

Kelce has earned $159m in career earnings since joining the Chiefs via the 2013 draft. \ufeff<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

After much speculation about whether he would retire from the NFL, Travis Kelce has decided to return to the Kansas City Chiefs, but has stunned […]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":496628,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/496626"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=496626"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/496626\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":496629,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/496626\/revisions\/496629"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/496628"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=496626"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=496626"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=496626"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}