Travis Kelce Receives $12.5M Contract Update Amid Retirement Rumors After Rob Gronkowski’s Clear Message to Chiefs Star

Time is of the essence for Travis Kelce. Every second, every minute, and every day that takes us closer to March 14th paints a bleak picture of Kelce’s future in the NFL. Once that deadline passes, there could be a possibility that Kelce won’t be in Kansas City anymore. No.87 locker will be empty. Patrick Mahomes’ best friend won’t be there to hug him first before anyone else. The energy that Trav carries around himself may soon come to an end. However, if he does decide to stick around for one last hurrah, there’s a 7-figure bonus waiting for him to pick up.

Last offseason, Kelce had just signed a two-year, $34.25M deal. And apparently, with his deadline for retirement decision coming soon. Some interesting details about his contract have come to light. There are some lucrative roster bonuses Kelce is set to make after March 14th. His first one is a $11.5M bonus on March 15th, exactly 22 days later. Now, there’s also another $1M in August, but that isn’t too important right now. All the focus will be on the Chiefs and whether they would actually like to pay that $11.5M to Kelce.

See, money may not be a problem for the Chiefs in this case. There are certain other ramifications they need to focus on. Suppose Kelce decides to retire after March 15th—his dead cap figure would increase from $2.5M to $14M. Look, it’s not like something like this will probably happen, considering there’s a deadline.

But you cannot rule out any possibility right now. There goes one scenario with Kelce seemingly walking away with $11.5M in his pocket. And the other one is him retiring. Just imagine one day in the next 22 days. You are just randomly scrolling through your phones. Boom!! Breaking News: Travis Kelce announces retirement. Surely, it won’t happen, right?

However, if it does, then the Chiefs would be able to save themselves $17.5M in cap space. So, there are actually some great financial benefits, considering Kelce’s last decision is retirement. You might be thinking there’s no way the Chiefs TE would go out with a loss in the Super Bowl in his resume. And you could actually be right. Because there is an NFL insider who also believes Kelce is still not ready to hang his boots in the Louvre just yet. Joined by Rob Gronkowski, who wonders why people are even talking about Kelce’s retirement in the first place.

Rob Gronkowski still thinks Travis Kelce has a lot to offer

I am not making any crazy decisions but right now. The biggest thing is just being there for my teammates and being there for my coaches, understanding there’s a lot that goes into this thing.” Those were Travis Kelce’s thoughts addressing his retirement rumors days after the Super Bowl LIX loss. Like reading through his comments, you could easily say he just doesn’t want to leave Kansas City yet. And you know what? Actually, he might not, at least for now. The Athletic’s Dianna Russini believes there’s a feeling around the Chiefs that Travis Kelce will not retire. “There’s definitely a sense that Travis is going to try to play more.”

However, there’s a twist in the tail. Russini also added that Kelce’s stance on retirement could probably change because “This is going to be his decision.” The Chiefs have given him all the liberty he wants to come back with a decision before March 14th. And they will completely support his decision no matter what it is. But there’s actually someone his age who has since been retired for 3 years, who offered his 2 cents on Kelce’s retirement. Rob Gronkowski, in an interview with Kay Adams, said, “I believe he can go another two years. We’re talking about his stats being down. Are you kidding me? How are your stats down if you have 80+ catches at 35 years of age.”

Like those are the levels—Kelce carries around himself. That even a down year by his standards is actually impressive from Gronkowski’s point of view. See, Gronk had long retired from the NFL. And the only years he got over 80 receptions were in 2011 and 2014 when Gronk was still in his prime. However, Kelce has continued to cross that mark since 2016. Even this year, he was just 3 shy of 100 receptions, probably if he had reached that mark. Then, who knows, the narrative could have been way different.

Yes, it wasn’t a great year to his explosive standards. But judging yourself by a single down season compared to the 12 explosive seasons would be a bit too harsh. So, let’s see what Kelce actually decides. These next 22 days will probably keep a lot of No.87 fans on the edge. And, of course, don’t forget about the Swifties. There are also rumors Taylor Swift doesn’t want his boyfriend to retire.