Arrowhead Report

Brett Veach and Travis Kelce Address 'Contract Adjustment' to Keep Kelce in KC for 'Next Two Years'

Kansas City Chiefs general manager Brett Veach explained why the Chiefs adjusted the contract of superstar tight end Travis Kelce, and Kelce provided a look into how much longer he may play.

Joshua Brisco

Jan 19, 2020; Kansas City, Missouri, USA.
Jan 19, 2020; Kansas City, Missouri, USA. / Denny Medley-USA TODAY Sports
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Roughly an hour after the Kansas City Chiefs reportedly agreed to a contract adjustment with superstar tight end Travis Kelce, Chiefs general manager Brett Veach was already scheduled to speak to members of the media to discuss the Chiefs' 2024 NFL Draft haul. Before getting to anything draft-related, Veach opened his presser by congratulating Kelce on his new deal before going on to discuss how both sides came together to keep the future Hall of Famer happy and well-compensated in Kansas City.

"First, want to start off by congratulating Travis Kelce on his contract adjustment, just signed it here a few minutes ago," Veach said. "You know, hard to put into words what Travis means to this organization, this city, and was certainly a priority to adjust his contract for us and it was something that was important for [Chiefs chairman and CEO] Clark [Hunt], so very fitting that Travis is now the highest-paid tight end in these two years. Wanna thank his agents Michael and Greg for all their hard work, appreciate [football administration coordinator] Jack Wolov on our side for all their hard work. Again, just a really special day and moment for this organization to, once again, recognize arguably one of the greatest tight ends to ever do it."

During Veach's presser, Adam Schefter of ESPN tweeted out contract details that clarified some conflicting reports from earlier in the afternoon. Schefter tweeted that Kelce signed a two-year, $34.25 million deal with $17 million fully guaranteed and "most of next year guaranteed on day 3 of the league year in mid-March."

Earlier reports called Kelce's new deal an extension, adding two years to his existing two-year deal. As the dust settles, it appears simpler (and shorter) than that. Albert Breer of SI later clarified that "it's not an extension. It's a raise, per source, to the existing deal."

Kelce addressed the deal himself in a video posted to the Chiefs' Twitter/X account where he reflected on his time in Kansas City and looked ahead to his excitement for the upcoming season.

"Back at it again, baby," Kelce began before showing off his Super Bowl championship hat. "Feels good to be in KC. I remember coming here 12 years ago man, it's an honor and a pleasure and I can't wait to get after it these next two years, but no better than right now. Getting fired up for this year, just got out on the field with the boys, doggone, we're back at it, baby. Chiefs forever."

Early in his presser, Veach was asked about Kelce's new deal and what went into the decision to adjust Kelce's contract now.

"Travis is an outlier here, I mean, I think we all know that when we talk about Travis and his career and his legacy here, this is something we just wanted to knock out of the park early on," Veach said.

Then, Veach was asked how long he envisions Kelce continuing to play football, and how long he can do that at the high level he's kept up throughout his career in Kansas City.

"Well, I mean, every now and then you have one of these guys that are outliers, and certainly Travis is one of those players," Veach said. "It's funny, it's not even May yet, and today we had a chance to get out there in Phase 2 and guys were out there running around, and Travis was the first guy in line and, I mean, he looked like he was 28 years old. Again, the odds of someone playing this far into their 30s are very low, but it does happen, and it happens with just unicorns in the profession and Travis is one of those. We'll certainly celebrate this with him and hopefully we can ride this thing even longer, so we'll just have to wait and see, but he's shown so signs of slowing down and everyone notices the kind of postseason he had and he just found an extra gear. These special ones, these special players are always able to find that extra gear, and again, if anybody can do it, Travis can."

Read More: Grading the Chiefs' 2024 Draft Class: A Nearly Perfect Report Card

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Joshua Brisco
JOSHUA BRISCO

Joshua Brisco is the editor and publisher of Kansas City Chiefs On SI and has covered the Chiefs professionally since 2017 across audio and written media.

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