Anyone who watched the Kansas City Chiefs last year noticed something Chiefs Kingdom would never want to admit: franchise legend Travis Kelce has lost a step.
Kelce's 2024 stats still look great for a tight end, but don't let his 97 receptions, 823 yards, and three touchdowns fool you — it was arguably his worst statistical season of his 12-year career (except for his rookie season). He's 35 years old, so it's not exactly shocking he's lost a bit of his burst. But looking at the upcoming season, it might not just be Father Time getting in the way of his playing time.
Related: Andy Reid's warning should send a clear message to Chiefs star Travis Kelce
Kansas City has the luxury of having a darn-good backup tight end in Noah Gray. The 26-year-old has been putting in the work in the shadows, improving every season. Gray's emergence has firmly put Kelce's age into the spotlight, but it might just be his contract that gives him that little extra training camp edge to leapfrog Kelce on the depth chart in 2025.
Noah Gray has 500,000 reasons to eat into Kelce's reps at training camp
Per Spotrac, Gray's three-year, $18,000,000 contract includes $500,000 in performance-based bonus incentives.
He can earn up to $250,000 per year through snap count incentives — $150K for hitting 55% of offensive snaps, $175K for 65%, and $250K for 75%, with only the highest tier paid out. Spotrac also lists a receptions-based bonus that isn’t fully detailed, but it likely mirrors the same format: 30 catches could earn $150K, 40 might land $175K, and 50 would trigger the full $250K. Like the snap thresholds, these bonuses aren’t cumulative — just the top payout applies.
Talk about having more of a reason to be Kelce's replacement. And what better time than the present?
Gray is on the up-and-up. Each year, he’s become more involved in the offense, setting new career highs in targets, receptions, receiving yards, and touchdowns along the way. That's not nothing.
The backup tight end has come a long way since being drafted in the fifth round out of Duke. Funny enough, his time with the Blue Devils saw him improve his production each year. Sound familiar? He's come a long way from being a decent pass-catching move tight end with limited potential to one of the best backups in the league. That's effort and hard work.
I’m not suggesting Gray is going to usurp Kelce as Patrick Mahomes’ top option. But the runway is there. With an impressive training camp, Gray could cement himself as a true TE1-in-waiting — one who’s younger, ascending, and has half a million reasons to start shifting the balance in Kansas City’s tight end room.
And with Kelce once openly contemplating retirement, the Chiefs may already be preparing for what comes next, whether fans are ready for it or not.