Travis Kelce’s contract details have been revealed.
Kelce signed a one-year, $12 million deal last week to return to the Chiefs for his 14th NFL season, after contemplating retirement in the offseason.
The money is fully guaranteed — though $9 million comes in the form of roster bonuses, per Sports Illustrated. $3 million of that chunk is a training camp bonus, while the other $6 million is awarded if Kelce is on the 90-man roster at certain points throughout the season. Meaning, even if he isn’t active, Kelce’s all but guaranteed the money.
Kansas City also added $3 million in incentives, including tiers for making the playoffs and Super Bowl and playing 60-80 percent of regular-season snaps.
The contract is also broken up to manage cap hits. In 2026, Kelce will have a $4.8 million cap hit and dead money hits of $3.5 million in the ensuing two years.
This stipulation allows the Chiefs to evade void years. They have minimum salaries built into dummy years in 2027 and 2028, including $40 million guaranteed in 2028 if he’s still rostered by June 8 of next year. However, if the Chiefs release him by June 1, 2027, they can spread the dead money out.
After making his decision to keep playing this year, it could be a direct path to retirement for Kelce considering he’ll be 37 next season.
In 17 games this past season, Kelce finished with 851 yards and five touchdowns. It was the third straight year he failed to reach the 1,000-yard plateau, but he still made his 11th consecutive Pro Bowl.
Across his 13-year career since being drafted in the third round in 2013, Kelce has racked up 13,002 yards on 1,080 catches and 84 total touchdowns.
Kelce’s return is massive for the Chiefs, who missed the playoffs for the first time since 2014 with a 6-11 record in 2025. Patrick Mahomes tore his ACL in Kansas City’s Week 15 loss to the Chargers, and it dropped its last three games to end the season.
Mahomes is expected to return next season, and Kelce will be at his side once again as the Chiefs look to re-establish their dynasty.
