‘37-Year-Old Washed TE.’ NFL Fans In Disbelief After Finding Out Crazy Money Travis Kelce Is Getting Paid For New Contract

After he retires, Travis Kelce will likely be remembered as one of the greatest tight ends to have ever played in the NFL. Unfortunately, his last few seasons in the league were not similar to his prime, leading many to speculate he'd retire before the next year. Kelce finally announced he's coming back to the Kansas City Chiefs, but it's the terms of the deal that have sports fans wondering how he pulled this off.

The NFL announced that Kelce signed a crazily lucrative three-year deal with the Chiefs for $54.7 million. The deal left NFL fans properly gobsmacked, wondering why in the world the Chiefs would spend so much of their allotted cap space on a former superstar who isn't performing to standard:

• 37-year-old washed TE who dropped off a cliff getting $18M/year is the biggest robbery in Chiefs history. Congrats on paying nostalgia and Taylor Swift tickets instead of building a real roster 😂🥱 - @xwonde6
• It literally makes no sense. I thought it was a joke at first. - @matt47871
• KC Chiefs are renewing a three year contract with the fiance of Taylor Swift. Kelce is done. His stats from last year prove that. $19M a year with incentives would get a couple of good OL. Travis is Hollywood now. The players don't need the distractions. A true waste of $57M. - @walk_ric
• I'll need to see the nitty-gritty details here because WHAT - @WhatGoingDowney
• 3 years?? At that AAV?! Yikes. I don't see a world where he wants to play 3 more years and on top of that, he's not playing at $18 mil a year money level - @DDelgattoNFL

The news, at first glance, is shocking, but there's some nuance to the deal. Sports journalist Ari Meirov elaborated that the deal is actually structured as a 1-year deal with a base salary of $12 million, and $3 million in incentives if he hits certain milestones. The additional $40 million over two years is not expected to be paid out, but the contract's structure would allow the Chiefs to pay out his $12 million the first year over the next two years after he retires.

Even so, the yearly salary will still land him in the Top 10 of the highest-paid tight ends in the NFL next season, according to OverTheCap.com. This is to say, it's not as bad as advertised, but it's still a pretty penny for a player who hasn't played his best in a while. It's not exactly what (some) Kansas City Chiefs fans want to see, especially after finishing third in their division last season. (Though, sure, there were other circumstances, like Mahomes' "obviously effed up" injury.)

Travis Kelce's retirement at the end of this season feels like a certainty, based on the opinions of analysts and his close friends. As much as Kelce wants to compete in the NFL, the Chiefs have to figure out a way to get back on top and make sure Patrick Mahomes has all the tools he needs on offense to make that happen.

Granted, Travis Kelce played a big role in both Mahomes' and the Chiefs' dynasty, so it's understandable the organization would like to allow him the opportunity to retire on his terms, rather than push him out the door. That could be more of a factor than his ongoing engagement with Taylor Swift. Plus, Hollywood will always be there when he's ready for the next stage of his career.

We still have quite a while before the next NFL season kicks off in the fall, so we'll have to see how and what Travis Kelce has to say about this upcoming season when he returns. I'm sure there will be a lot more said before he gets thrown his next pass.