Building the Chiefs TE room
A look at the cap and draft capital the Chiefs have spent
The Chiefs don’t have a bigger star on the roster outside of Patrick Mahomes than what they have in superstar tight end Travis Kelce. Kelce has been catching passes for the Chiefs for years and is the best at his position in the NFL. Surprisingly enough though Kelce isn’t at the top of the TE market when it comes to contracts. Let’s dive into the cost of both the cap and draft capital the Chiefs have spent at the position.
Travis Kelce
The Chiefs have the best tight end in the NFL. People will argue it is other players but no one has been as consistent as Kelce has been year in and year out for the Chiefs. Drafted at 63 overall in the third round of the 2013 draft Kelce has been just about unstoppable over his past six seasons. He’s reeled off six straight seasons of over 1,000 yards receiving and has become the safety blanket for Patrick Mahomes.
The Chiefs signed Kelce to an extension about a month after the Chiefs extended Mahomes. The extension was a 4 year deal worth $57.25 million with $27 million in guarantees. At this point in his deal he has passed the guaranteed portion of his contract and has nothing left in guarantees moving forward. His cap number of $8,855,882 is very reasonable for 2022 but it jumps to $14.65 million in 2023. One option the Chiefs have with his contract is to restructure his salary in 2023 into a signing bonus for cap purposes.
Noah Gray
Gray was a 5th round pick of the Chiefs at 162 overall in the 2021 draft. Gray didn’t have much of an impact on the Chiefs in 2021 playing behind Travis Kelce and others. With only 7 catches on the season, you would expect that Gray will be more involved in 2022, especially with the way he was showing in training camp last season. Gray is in the second year of his rookie contract so his cap hit for 2022 is only $903,445.
Blake Bell
Bell is back for another season with the Chiefs in 2022 as of right now. Bell is generally a blocking TE and plays the Y position lining up mostly on the line of scrimmage. This is his second stint with the Chiefs after leaving for the 2020 season but he has shown he has a role in the offense. While he may not catch many passes, the Chiefs used him on a lot of short-yardage situations for QB sneak-type plays. Bell is on a veteran minimum salary benefit contract so his cap number is only $1,047,500 for the year.
Jody Fortson
Fortson is an undrafted free agent that Kansas City signed in 2019. He spent two seasons on the Chiefs practice squad before making the roster in 2021 as a backup tight end that played a similar role to what they do with Kelce. Fortson is a guy to watch in 2022 if he’s able to come back from his Achilles injury. His cap hit for 2022 is only $825,000.
Everyone Else
The Chiefs have a lot of other tight ends on the roster in Mark Vital, Jordan Franks, Nakia Griffin-Steward, Matt Bushman, and Josh Pederson. Their respective cap hits are $705,000, $825,000, and then $705,000 for the other three. All of these tight ends on the roster are a little surprising but it shows the Chiefs are looking for players to contribute.
Positional Spending
The total cost on the 2022 salary cap for the Chiefs TE position is $14,451,827. Most likely however the cost of the Chiefs’ cap space for the TE’s on the roster when the season starts is $11,631,827 with it possibly being a little higher if they draft a TE. This is a position that they will likely try to find a contributor at in the draft.