Insider explains when Chiefs, Travis Kelce could part ways

Kansas City Chiefs All-Pro tight end Travis Kelce declared earlier this week that his becoming the NFL's highest-paid player at the position means he will "love the next two years playing here in Kansas City" before he makes any decision about his long-term future. 

Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk suggested on Thursday that either side could walk away from the deal after the 2024 season. 

"The Chiefs gave Kelce a $4M raise for 2024, no strings attached, pushing his salary to $17M," Florio explained. "For 2025, the $17.5M he’s due to make becomes fully guaranteed on the third day of the 2025 league year."

In other words, the Chiefs will have a short window next March to determine if they want Kelce's 2025 salary to become fully guaranteed ahead of his 36th birthday that he'll celebrate in October of that year. 

"If the Chiefs didn’t want to at least preserve the option, the 2025 salary would be fully guaranteed from the get-go," Florio said. "And if this was just a funding issue for next year, the guarantee could have vested immediately after the next Super Bowl." 

Florio also mentioned that Kelce could decide next winter he's had enough of taking physical abuse during football seasons. 

For a piece published this past fall, Kelce teased that he thinks about retirement "nonstop" amid his much-publicized relationship with entertainment superstar Taylor Swift. 

Back in November, Martenzie Johnson of Andscape detailed Kelce's numerous off-the-field business successes. 

Last month, Alex Weprin of The Hollywood Reporter noted that the "New Heights" podcast co-hosted by Travis and brother Jason Kelce could fetch "an eight-figure deal." Additionally, Travis recently was named the host of Amazon’s "Are You Smarter Than a Celebrity?" show.

"For (Travis) Kelce, if he gets offered (for instance) $30M to star in an action movie that shoots in Bora Bora from August to November of 2025, he’d tap out," Florio predicted. 

Shortly after Travis Kelce helped the Chiefs claim a second straight Super Bowl title in February, he told ESPN he wants "that three-peat." 

Whether or not he gets his wish, it seems that he and the Chiefs could be in the "Last Dance" portion of their relationship before he moves on to what likely will be a lucrative next chapter of his life.