So here’s a mild curiosity: Kelce was inked like two weeks ago and his year by year cap hits haven’t been released yet.
That stands in stark contrast to Mahomes and Jones (and virtually everybody else’s contracts. If you go to OverTheCap and Spotrac, neither has the contract updated. I’ve been checking daily, because of course I am.
There was a tweet the day of, by Mike Garofalo I think, that gave us the year cash payouts, but cash payouts on these big deals don’t always match up with the cap hits. The cash payout for this year is the same as his pre-extension cap number, but the cash payout for 2021 is actually 4m higher than the pre-extension cap number.
Obviously, this could very well be nothing. But a conspiracy theory you could embrace is that the cash payouts are far more flattering to the player and/or sensible to the general public than the actual cap hits, which could be ugly. I don’t even know what “ugly” would look like in this scenario, I’m just spitballing because stalling the contract info this long is somewhat unique. [Reply]
Overthecap.com - six years of Travis Kelce's contract
2020 Cap Number - $11,218,400.00
2021 Cap Number - $13,250,000.00
2022 Cap Number - $7,500,000.00
2023 Cap Number - $13,250,000.00
2024 Cap Number - $15,000,000.00
2025 Cap Number - $17,250,000.00
Also Kelce's contract is set up where 2022 through 2025, Chiefs could release Travis without a Cap hit or any Dead money.
Side note - Spotrac.com still does not have the contract posted yet.
Originally Posted by Wilson8:
Overthecap.com - six years of Travis Kelce's contract
2020 Cap Number - $11,218,400.00
2021 Cap Number - $13,250,000.00
2022 Cap Number - $7,500,000.00
2023 Cap Number - $13,250,000.00
2024 Cap Number - $15,000,000.00
2025 Cap Number - $17,250,000.00
Also Kelce's contract is set up where 2022 through 2025, Chiefs could release Travis without a Cap hit or any Dead money.
Side note - Spotrac.com still does not have the contract posted yet.
It does jack up his 2021 cap hit by $3-4 million, however.
Perhaps that's a signal from the Chiefs that, thanks to their Clark Hunt finance committee chairmanship connection, that the cap won't be as dirt low as some of us had feared. [Reply]
Originally Posted by Wilson8:
Also Kelce's contract is set up where 2022 through 2025, Chiefs could release Travis without a Cap hit or any Dead money.
Holy shit -- I completely missed this gem.
Why the hell did Travis Kelce agree to this contract? I think this is a terrible deal for Kelce.
He agreed to a below-market-value contract for the first three years in exchange for his annual average to look sexy by tacking on three premium-priced years the Chiefs could very well just release him at zero penalty if they chose to.
Isn't it likely the Chiefs and Kelce return to the negotiating table after the 2022 season to bring his cap hit down while giving him more security?
Of course, maybe the cap will be so absurdly high by then, Kelce's deal will be looking pretty good. [Reply]
Originally Posted by Direckshun:
Holy shit -- I completely missed this gem.
Why the hell did Travis Kelce agree to this contract? I think this is a terrible deal for Kelce.
He agreed to a below-market-value contract for the first three years in exchange for his annual average to look sexy by tacking on three premium-priced years the Chiefs could very well just release him at zero penalty if they chose to.
Isn't it likely the Chiefs and Kelce return to the negotiating table after the 2022 season to bring his cap hit down while giving him more security?
Of course, maybe the cap will be so absurdly high by then, Kelce's deal will be looking pretty good.
Isn't it possible that he just wants cash that late in his career and set himself up to be a candidate for a cap-to-cash conversion while not having to test the open market? Lord knows he's not hurting for money and this would allow him some instant gratification that benefits the team and allows him to accumulate more rings. Maybe he's "thinking about Canton"? [Reply]