According to Spotrac, Kelce’s three-year contract includes $12 million guaranteed up front, representing the total amount of actual money in the deal.
There is no guaranteed cash earnings due to Kelce after 2026, but Arrowhead Pride cap guru Jared Sapp points out that Kelce would have to be scheduled for minimum salaries of $1.345 million in 2027 and $1.39 million in 2028; those are the minimum-salary marks for players credited with ten or more seasons.
That brings the money over three seasons to $14.735 million, then there’s the biggest factor in a total value of $40 million more: the “Poison Pill.”
According to Spotrac, the pill comes in the form of $40 million guaranteed to Kelce for 2028, which is scheduled to trigger on June 8th, 2027. As Spotrac notes, this allows the Chiefs to use the post-June 1 designation next offseason to void the dead cap taken on when guaranteeing that lump sum, and say farewell to Kelce — or renegotiate an actual contract to have him back after next season.