Travis Kelce Gets Wholesome Call From Patrick Mahomes’ While Signing Team-Friendly $12 Million Contract

Superstar tight end Travis Kelce is returning to the Kansas City Chiefs for his 14th and possibly final season.

Travis Kelce Gets Wholesome Call From Patrick Mahomes’ While Signing Team-Friendly $12 Million Contract

Patrick Mahomes and Travis Kelce's friendship continues for one more season (Image via Chiefs Fandom/X)

In Short
  • Travis Kelce signs a team-friendly one-year, $12 million contract to return for his 14th season with the Kansas City Chiefs.
  • Patrick Mahomes congratulates Kelce on his contract during a wholesome phone call.
  • The contract is structured to provide cap flexibility for the Chiefs, allowing them to pursue other players.

After the way last season ended, all Kansas City Chiefs fans would have wanted was to see Travis Kelce end his career catching passes from friend Patrick Mahomes.

The latter’s ACL tear could not have come at the worst possible time. Sure, the franchise was on the verge of missing out on the playoffs, whether or not their starting QB was healthy.

But the mere fact that the duo was not going to end the season together was in itself a disservice to the years of exceptional work the superstar tight end had put in for the organization.

Despite that desire, the Chiefs and their fans accepted the fact that Travis Kelce might not return. After all, his quarterback may not be ready to play until most of the regular season is over.

That means he would have to catch passes from Justin Fields, which may not be the ideal way to avoid getting beaten up by opposing defenders.

However, on the first day of free agency, it was announced that the 36-year-old had agreed to return for one more season. Now, when it was time for him to put pen to paper, it was not surprising for his close friend to give him a call.

Look who it is, dogggooone. Congratulations…. Home sweet home. Look at that beard. That man’s ready to go. Alright bro. I just wanted to call and say congrats.

Patrick Mahomes said

This wholesome interaction brought a smile to Travis Kelce‘s face, knowing that he is going to get back to playing ball with his buddy sometime down the line this year.

Travis Kelce signs team-friendly deal

When it was first announced that Travis Kelce would return for his 14th season, there was a belief that it would be the last time the Ohio native would wear pads.

The one-year, $12 million contract made sense, as it would give the Kansas City Chiefs enough flexibility to look at other areas they need to address.

On top of that, restructuring Patrick Mahomes’ contract netted a significant amount of cap space. Now, armed with that, they went out and signed Super Bowl LX MVP Kenneth Walker.

That alone gives the team a great boost in the one area that has been lacking in their offensive game plan for the past few years. Combined with Justin Fields and Mahomes’ dual-threat ability, Kelce could end up benefiting quite a bit.

Moreover, Travis Kelce has always acknowledged what the Chiefs have done for him, and this time, it was his turn to repay them. As per Ian Rapoport, the 11-time Pro Bowler essentially signed a three-year deal worth $54.735 million.

Chiefs can continue to be successful even after Travis Kelce retires

This three-year deal brings Travis Kelce’s yearly average with incentives to $18.245 million. However, this will not work against the Kansas City Chiefs in the long run.

Travis Kelce's contract will help Patrick Mahomes in the long run
Travis Kelce’s contract will help Patrick Mahomes in the long run (Image via Dov Kleiman/X)

Instead, the deal is structured to allow the franchise to distribute its actual cap hit over the additional years specified in the contract.

That means that if the seven-time All-Pro decides to continue next season, his contract will be renegotiated and will likely again include such cap-spreading tactics.

What this does is it helps the Chiefs distribute a cap hit over a number of years, which will then help them create cap space with which they can sign other lucrative free agents.

Even though some do not think the organization should entertain Travis Kelce much longer simply because he was great, it seems the folks at Arrowhead Stadium think differently.

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