Travis Kelce Signs Two-Year Extension with Chiefs, Remains NFL’s Highest-Paid TE With Brother’s Retirement Speculation Ended

The speculation surrounding a possible retirement by NFL’s Travis Kelce came to an end on Monday after his team Kansas City Chiefs signed him for another two years. The contract extension will see the tight-end become the highest-paid player in this position category, with reports indicating that he would receive $34.25 million over a period of two more seasons, added onto the remaining two years left on his previous deal. Kelce’s new agreement also includes guaranteed money worth $17m for 2024 and additional sum vested year-on-year thereafter per NFL Network’ reports. At thirty-five, he will remain with Chiefs until 2027 when he turns thirty-eight years old.
Kelce’s older brother Jason retired from the Philadelphia Eagles this offseason, leading to speculation about his future in football. However, Kelce has now put those rumors to rest after a successful Super Bowl campaign with Chiefs and Patrick Mahomes that saw him win back-to-back championship titles for the team.
The extension comes as no surprise given Kelce’s previous history of taking pay cuts to enable his club to build better teams, which he has done on several occasions in earlier agreements since signing an original contract at age 23 for around $804k annually. Over time, these moves have proven fruitful; now a nine-time Pro Bowler and four-time All-Pro player with three Super Bowl rings under his belt, Kelce is poised to surpass Antonio Gates’ third position on the list of most receiving yards by tight ends in NFL history this season.
Despite the recent hype surrounding Travis’ relationship with pop icon Taylor Swift and speculation that it could potentially distract him from football activities during matches or practice sessions, he posted some remarkable figures for 2021: Kelce scored an impressive 984 yards on 93 receptions throughout regular-season play while also recording five touchdowns. His performance in the Super Bowl run was equally outstanding; over four games, Travis recorded a total of 355 yards from nine catches and three touchdown passes altogether during postseason matches.
Although Chiefs have added some new wide receiver talent to their roster this off-season – Marquise “Hollywood” Brown was picked up on free transfers whilst Texas athlete, Xavier Worthy (who set a record for the fastest 40 yard dash at NFL Combine) became part of Chiefs’ first round pick selection in the recent draft – Kelce remains Patrick Mahomes’ preferred and most trusted target during matches.
Chiefs QB, Patrick Mahomes congratulated his teammate on Twitter after hearing about the new contract extension: “I told yall I’ll never let him leave!! Congrats my guy!” he posted.