Chiefs’ Travis Kelce happy to ‘move the needle for the tight end room’ with record deal

Kansas City Chiefs star Travis Kelce became the highest-paid tight end in the NFL for the first time in his 11-year career Monday, and he took a moment to celebrate the significance of the massive contract on a recent episode of his podcast “New Heights with Jason and Travis Kelce.”

“I’m so excited and I’m so thankful to this organization for getting it done and making me feel appreciated and compensated the right way. And on top of that I got to move the needle for the tight end room,’’ Kelce said. “It’s everyone else’s job to go out there and keep making that tight end AAV number go up and up with every single contract that’s better than mine in the future.”

The new deal, which runs through the 2025 season, will pay Kelce $17 million fully guaranteed this year. His $17.25 million salary in 2025 is mostly guaranteed, according to a league source.

“I’m not a guy that sits out,” Kelce said. “I’m not a guy that holds out. I’m a guy that loves coming into the building and the Chiefs know that. So for them to, first of all, want to be able to get this done for me knowing how much blood, sweat and tears I put into this thing for them, I’m extremely grateful and extremely thankful for everybody involved.”

Kelce helped the Chiefs to their second consecutive Super Bowl victory last season while leading the team with 93 receptions for 984 yards during the regular season. During the Chiefs’ four-game postseason run, Kelce elevated his performance, generating 32 receptions for 355 yards and three touchdowns.

He is a three-time Super Bowl champion with the Chiefs, a nine-time Pro Bowler and a four-time first-team All-Pro. Kelce has been one of the NFL’s most productive tight ends. His 907 career receptions and 11,328 career receiving yards rank fourth all time among tight ends.

Kansas City extending Kelce was the team’s latest move to maintain its explosive offense. The Chiefs signed free-agent wide receiver Marquise Brown in March and drafted two pass catchers in wide receiver Xavier Worthy and tight end Jared Wiley last week.

Kelce showed some love to Worthy, who KC selected out of Texas with the 28th pick.

“Xavier Worthy is the fastest man to ever run the 40-yard dash at the combine. He is a 4.21 guy which is unheard of. It’s looking like Pat (Mahomes) has another extremely fast man to throw the ball deep to or just get the ball in his hands — a lot of his highlights you see him catch the ball, and he’s splitting defenders and making guys miss. He’s an all-around football guy. He’s not just track speed.”

Worthy had 75 receptions for 1,014 yards and five touchdowns last season for the Longhorns.