Kansas City Chiefs: Travis Kelce earned his contract extension

Travis Kelce will be the Kansas City Chiefs tight end for another five years.

The Kansas City Chiefs acted quickly after word broke of George Kittle‘s new contract extension and made sure they kept their tight end happy. Travis Kelce is now tied to the organization for another five years and that’s a win for everyone involved.

The Chiefs drafted Kelce in the third round of the 2013 NFL Draft and it feels asinine that he was available in the third round. He dropped, however, due to some drug tests while at Cincinnati and that led to the Chiefs being able to grab him as late as they did.

Kelce has rewarded them by grabbing a total of 507 receptions for 6,465 yards and 37 touchdowns and also posting four straight 1,000 yard seasons.

Travis Kelce is more than deserving of this extension.

Kelce was a tremendous tight end even before Patrick Mahomes took over as the quarterback, but having someone like Mahomes throwing the ball to him has made him an even better player. His best season came in 2018 when he hauled in 103 receptions for 1,336 yards and ten touchdowns.

While his 2019 numbers were still fantastic (97 receptions for 1,229 and five touchdowns), they were down from the 2018 stats, but the Chiefs were without Mahomes in two (and nearly three) games due to injury so that likely played a part in Kelce’s declined numbers.

Something that will be looked at through all of this is the fact that Kelce is 30 years old and will turn 31 in October. To extend a player in his 30s for five years could be looked at as a risky move, but if anyone is worthy of such an extension, it’s Travis Kelce.

This could end up taking Kelce to the end of his NFL career, as the contract itself actually goes for six years since Kelce was already inked for the 2021 season. He’ll be 36 going on 37 in the final year of the deal and while we want to believe Kelce will be dominant forever, the final few years of this contract could be interesting.

There really wasn’t any doubt that this deal would get done, as Kelce has given no reason not to keep him around long-term. He’s the best tight end in the league (sorry Kittle) and the best offensive weapon on the offense.

The Chiefs have been fortunate that Kelce has stayed healthy during his career and that’ll be the key moving forward to ensure that this team considers their hopes of being a dynasty.