How Travis Kelce extension impacts KC Chiefs pay roll situation
Travis Kelce is staying with the KC Chiefs for six more years. How does the payroll look now that he’s been extended?
A big worry with the future of the Kansas City Chiefs was that once they signed Patrick Mahomes to a mega contract that they’d be unable to retain the rest of their talent.
Well, that theory has already looked to be out the window, as Chiefs General Manager Brett Veach has signed Mahomes, Chris Jones, and Travis Kelce to extensions in the same offseason. Those are three of the best players on Kansas City’s roster.
Mahomes definitely wanted to be able to give the organization enough money to bring in other top tier talent as well as retaining their own talent and Veach has been able to do that. He proved that with his extensions for both Jones and Kelce.
What does the cap situation look like now for the KC Chiefs?
Despite signing three big players to extensions, the Chiefs aren’t in a bad cap situation by any means. They added roughly $8 million according to Kevin Patra of NFL.com and also pointed out that Jones nor Kelce received signing bonuses. This helped save the franchise some money in the long run.
"The group of K.C. players has taken team-friendly deals that are structured in a way as to give the Chiefs flexibility (toss in some creative-thinking bonus points to the club’s front office)."
Another thing that Veach did well was limiting the big financial boosts early on, as none of these three players are the in the top four highest paid players. Kelce will get a $4 million bump in his salary next year, but otherwise the Chiefs are paying him $30 million over the next three years. Not bad for the league’s best tight end, huh?
When it comes down to it, keeping Kelce in Kansas City (try saying that five times fast) cost big bucks for sure, but the way his contract as well as Jones’ and Mahomes’ contracts are laid out gives the team more flexibility and the ability to either re-sign key players or bring in viable free agents.
After having a General Manager who majorly whiffed when it came to giving out contracts and extensions, Brett Veach has been a breath of fresh air. The way he was able to finagle these three big players’ contracts shows that he’s the right man for the job in Kansas City.
While the Chiefs didn’t sign any huge players in free agency this year, they don’t need to. Instead, the focus should be on re-signing the players they already have and are comfortable with, which is exactly what Veach has excelled at in his short time as the KC Chiefs GM.