A Kansas City Chiefs star offensive player recently came out and said they’re underpaid at $14.3 million a year. That’s a lot of money to most people, but to one of the most important offensive skilled players, it isn’t close to their real market value.
The Chiefs have been fortunate to land one player willing to take less money to stay on the team. Money issues after Patrick Mahomes’ contract caused one star, Tyreek Hill, to be traded to the Miami Dolphins last year. That’s one of the reasons tight end Travis Kelce has decided to stay in Kansas City for a limited salary.
The Kansas City Chiefs trade high-money receivers

In an interview with Tom Kludt of Vanity Fair, Kelce said he chooses not to ask for more money because he’d rather get to stay with the Super Bowl-contending Chiefs:
“My managers and agents love to tell me how underpaid I am,” Kelce says. “Any time I talk about wanting more money, they’re just like, ‘Why don’t you go to the Chiefs and ask them?’” The Chiefs, constrained by the NFL’s salary cap, have parted with other key players who have gone on to make more money elsewhere…
“When I saw Tyreek go and get 30 [million] a year, in the back of my head, I was like, man, that’s two to three times what I’m making right now,” he says. “I’m like, the free market looks like fun until you go somewhere and you don’t win. I love winning. I love the situation I’m in…
“You see how much more money you could be making and, yeah, it hits you in the gut a little bit. It makes you think you’re being taken advantage of,” Kelce says. “I don’t know if I really pressed the gas if I would get what I’m quote-unquote worth,” he adds. “But I know I enjoy coming to that building every single day.”
Green Bay Packers saw something similar last offseason when the team traded away Davante Adams and gave Aaron Rodgers a raise. Adams went the Hill route, and neither side benefitted last season in the win column.
Travis Kelce is severely underpaid by the Kansas City Chiefs

Kelce is the third highest-paid tight end in the league for the 2023 season, only behind George Kittle and Darren Waller. That deal doesn’t seem bad. But counting wide receivers, Kelce is the 23rd highest-paid pass catcher in the league.
That’s where Kelce is underpaid. Kelce recorded the third-most catches, eighth-most receiving yards, and second-most touchdowns of any pass catcher in the league last year. That’s without Hill opening up the defense for him.
Kelce appears to value championships and glory over cash. That sentiment does wonders for the building in Kansas City. It’s worked for Kelce and the Chiefs so far, as Patrick Mahomes won another MVP, and the team won a Super Bowl last season.
The best passer-receiver duo in league history is the Joe Montana to Jerry Rice connection. That could change with Mahomes and Kelce.
And it will come at a price.
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