The Kansas City Chiefs surprised the Kingdom on Thursday with the news that they'd reached a contract extension with an unlikely player: tight end Noah Gray. Reports have Gray signing a three-year contract extension that will keep the team's second tight end on the roster through the 2026 campaign.
NFL reporter Ian Rapoport broke the news saying it's a three-year deal with $10 million guaranteed and a $6 million signing bonus. Total terms of the deal could add up to just south of $20 million.
Gray's extension is a surprising one given the fact that the team was already vocal about wanting to get other contract extensions done for players like right guard Trey Smith and linebacker Nick Bolton—deals that will cost the team much more down the road. However, it doesn't mean that it's surprising the team wanted to keep Noah around in the first place.
Gray was coming into a contract season this year, which means he would have hit free agency next spring. However, Gray has grown with coaching and experience each year for a slightly bigger share of the offensive pie. More importantly, the team has learned to trust him more and more as he's blossomed as a prospect and Brett Veach even mentioned Gray as a special player last week in a press conference.
The Chiefs specifically mentioned wanting to take Noah Gray off of special teams this season in the hopes of saddling him with more offensive responsibility. Per Veach, "I think Noah continues to get better, and he’s a guy that I think we want to feature a little bit more so knowing that, it’s good to have the ability to take him off of some of those special teams."
Knowing that Gray's portion of the offense is likely to grow, it's important to note that Travis Kelce's is likely to shrink—not at key moments or in big games, but it's clear the Chiefs are ready to start resting him more and more as he gets older. The team traded for Peyton Hendershot from the Dallas Cowboys to restore a blocking tight end to the roster, and they also selected Jared Wiley out of TCU in the fourth round of the 2024 draft.
It's clear that the Chiefs' moves, when viewed in concert with one another, are all about leaning less and less on Kelce as he ages while simultaneously seeing how dynamic the players behind him can be. Gray can grow toward an oft-used TE2 role in the interim. Wiley will be given chances to grow and compete for more reps. Hendershot is a young blocker who can handle those obvious assignments to let Kelce rest.
The important note on the deal, however, is in its length of three seasons. Remember, Kelce restructured his previous deal with a pay raise for two years—as in two more total seasons and then he's done. Whether that means he'll re-sign or become a free agent or retire or join the cast of CSI is anyone's guess—anything feels possible—but what's important for the Chiefs is to know that they're potentially losing a Hall of Fame offensive cog and franchise face in two seasons.
For Gray, this is vital. What this means is that even if Kelce stays healthy and productive, the Chiefs are paying you enough to stick around for one season after he's presumed gone or done to be the guy for once in Reid's offense. Then Gray hit the open market and maybe earn a significant payday after doing so. He's got some security for now and more dollars than anyone expected as a second tight end and yet the Chiefs have some insurance there too.
If you're a general manager who knows he could be saying goodbye to a Hall of Fame player and elite offensive weapon in two seasons, then the first order of business is signing the promising guy behind him to one year more than that to see if you have the replacement already in house to move from TE2 to TE1. Then after him, you also maintain security in the face of injury and age with the promise of a brand new rookie behind all of that—who by the way comes with four years of control.
That means Kelce, Gray, and Wiley are here for the next two years. Then Gray and Wiley for the 2026 season and at least Wiley in 2027. That's an abundance of talent and potential at a key position within Andy Reid's offense. It's also about the most responsible way to handle potentially having to fill the unfillable shoes of Travis Kelce sometime down the road.