On Wednesday, the Chicago Bears announced the news that they'd signed young tight end Cole Kmet to a long-term contract extension. For the Bears, it's the securing of a key young player for their offensive core. For most teams, it's a slight market adjustment to acknowledge. For the Kansas City Chiefs, it's another arrow in the back of Travis Kelce.
Okay, that's a bit dramatic, but it feels right. The truth is that everything feels wrong when it comes down to Kelce's level of compensation. Kmet's new deal is just the latest example.
A few quick disclaimers: Some things are financially disproportional in the National Football League these days and there's no getting around it. It's why running backs this summer are huddling together for strategy sessions about how to get paid more. It's why the Chiefs topped the market for a right tackle (at $80M) with Jawaan Taylor instead of having to hit the $100M mark with a left tackle (e.g. Orlando Brown). Some positions are valued more than others.
Cole Kmet's new deal with the Chicago Bears only reminds us of how underpaid Travis Kelce is.
So when you read that Cole Kmet is set to receive $50 million over the next four seasons and you realize that's only $7M or so less than Kelce got on his last extension, you wonder what's wrong with the NFL universe.
A couple things in Kmet's favor. First, every NFL team has to spend a certain amount—to reach a salary floor—and the Chicago Bears had to burn through some significant cash to get there and Kmet's deal was a nice way to spend it. Second, Kmet really looked much better in his second season as a route-runner and pass-catcher. That's why he earned 7 touchdowns last year after failing to catch a single one in '21.
But back to Kelce. At this point, we all know that Kelce is not just the best tight end in the game today but he's in the conversation for the best-ever at his position. A man with 8 consecutive Pro Bowl appearances, Kelce set a career-high in touchdowns last year with 12 and carried the offensive load after Tyreek Hill was traded. Oh yea, he also owns the record for most consecutive 1,000-yard seasons by a tight end by nearly 2x over the next player.
What does that mean financially? It means Jonnu Smith is getting $10 million more than Kelce over his own four year deal. Same with Kmet. Dawson Knox is right behind Kelce in that respect. Of course, if Kelce is underpaid for his position then it's not all that surprising to find out that Mark Andrews and George Kittle and Kyle Pitts are also a part of that collective, but to put them all together is to make Kelce's financial hit sound downright silly.
As long as the NFL refuses to credit the production of a tight end the same way they do wide receivers, the contract for someone like Kelce is going to look foolish. Fortunately he's finding ways to increase his value off the field in 2023 because the league is never going to properly reward him while he's still playing.