Chiefs' Travis Kelce OK being 'underpaid': 'I love winning'

[shopson67]

Waller is very good but I think you are 100% correct

Waller is good when healthy, but that hasn't been much lately. Not likely to stay healthy consistently now that he's approaching 31. He seems younger, but he just took longer to emerge.

 

[fightinfunbags]

LOL. He's so underpaid at #3 in the league for TEs. The outlier is that Waller is overpaid at #1.

I think he’s underpaid. He’s a unique player that should not only be top of the TE scale he’s a guy whose agent should be comping him to some of the WRs. I think he should be close to a 20 million dollar a year player. His AAV is only 14 million a year. I think that should be around 18.5-19 million. 7 1,000 yard seasons in a row. He’s had 5 in a row of 90 catches or more. He’s had 3 of his last 5 seasons with double digit TDs. That kind of production comps him as one of the top WRs in the league.

Travis Kelce is like having the best house that is over improved in a middle class neighborhood. The true value of the home is somewhat depressed because of where it’s “located”. In this analogy the location is Kelce’s position of TE.

 

[Sportsguy9695]

Let’s hope Waller can help the giants this year continue there success from last year

 

[Xeliou66]

Let’s hope Waller can help the giants this year continue there success from last year

Waller is a great addition for the Giants - he’s a top 5 TE in the NFL IMO - I would rank him at #4 at the position behind Kelce, Kittle and Andrews. The Giants receiving unit should be stronger and healthier this year, one reason why I think Jones will have much better passing numbers.

 

[redskinsfan1963]

boo hoo,kelce is underpaid like half of america.

 

[jarntt]

I think he’s underpaid. He’s a unique player that should not only be top of the TE scale he’s a guy whose agent should be comping him to some of the WRs. I think he should be close to a 20 million dollar a year player. His AAV is only 14 million a year. I think that should be around 18.5-19 million. 7 1,000 yard seasons in a row. He’s had 5 in a row of 90 catches or more. He’s had 3 of his last 5 seasons with double digit TDs. That kind of production comps him as one of the top WRs in the league.

Travis Kelce is like having the best house that is over improved in a middle class neighborhood. The true value of the home is somewhat depressed because of where it’s “located”. In this analogy the location is Kelce’s position of TE.

Kelce is an interesting one. He is a prime example of what is wrong with contracts in the NFL. The whole idea of the next good player at a position that is up for a new deal resets the market is just stupid and the owners have themselves to blame for it for giving in. I mean look at what happened with QB this year alone. Mahomes is now the 7th highest paid QB in AAV. When you have a guy like Kelce who is so obviously the best at his position no other TE should even be able to bring his name up in contract talks. He should be a good $3M minimum more per year than the next closest guy. On the other side of that, he is going to be 36 y/o in the last season of his current deal (3 more years). So you really can't extend him either because there has to be a cliff effect at some point.

 

[fightinfunbags]

Kelce is an interesting one. He is a prime example of what is wrong with contracts in the NFL. The whole idea of the next good player at a position that is up for a new deal resets the market is just stupid and the owners have themselves to blame for it for giving in. I mean look at what happened with QB this year alone. Mahomes is now the 7th highest paid QB in AAV. When you have a guy like Kelce who is so obviously the best at his position no other TE should even be able to bring his name up in contract talks. He should be a good $3M minimum more per year than the next closest guy. On the other side of that, he is going to be 36 y/o in the last season of his current deal (3 more years). So you really can't extend him either because there has to be a cliff effect at some point.

I don’t have a problem with this. That’s the way sports contracts go. Next man up sets the new market.

 

[shopson67]

I think he’s underpaid. He’s a unique player that should not only be top of the TE scale he’s a guy whose agent should be comping him to some of the WRs. I think he should be close to a 20 million dollar a year player. His AAV is only 14 million a year. I think that should be around 18.5-19 million. 7 1,000 yard seasons in a row. He’s had 5 in a row of 90 catches or more. He’s had 3 of his last 5 seasons with double digit TDs. That kind of production comps him as one of the top WRs in the league.

Travis Kelce is like having the best house that is over improved in a middle class neighborhood. The true value of the home is somewhat depressed because of where it’s “located”. In this analogy the location is Kelce’s position of TE.

He should be classified as WR basically. How much inline blocking does he do, let alone do well? Calling some of these TEs anything but WRs is just an artificial way to keep down that salary as you noted.

 

[shopson67]

I don’t have a problem with this. That’s the way sports contracts go. Next man up sets the new market.

The Waller contract just came at the wrong time. He was performing at near Kelce levels, then the injuries (and McHoody) happened. McDaniels managed to kill the value of both Waller and Renfrow.

 

[shopson67]

It's not as if Kelce ever took less to help the team, he just was passed by two players that got extensions after him. I'm sure they'll look to smooth out that final year he's currently under contract for (with a $19M+ cap hit), so he'll get an extension/restructure within a year or so.

His statement also puts his contract into the general discussion, a gentle reminder to the Chiefs without demanding anything.