Back in 2010, Travis Kelce wasn’t running routes. He was sitting in a cubicle, reading from a script, and getting yelled at by strangers who had no interest in being called. The University of Cincinnati had suspended him for the season after he violated team rules following a failed drug test. While his teammates were suiting up for the season, Kelce was making $8 an hour doing something he wasn’t particularly good at.

On the latest episode of the New Heights podcast, Travis Kelce sat across from the stars of Workaholics, Adam DeVine and Blake Anderson. The show was a comedy about three friends who live together and work at a telemarketing company, airing from 2011 to 2017. Drawing a parallel from Anderson and DeVine’s on-screen struggles, Kelce delivered his admission.

“As fellow telemarketers, you know that you’re reading an already preset [script],” Kelce said. “I was the worst telemarketer in the fucking world. I was slinging surveys for Obamacare.”

After being redshirted in 2008, Kelce finally suited up as a tight end/quarterback in 2009. Losing an entire season right after making his college debut had reportedly left Travis in a state of depression. That telemarketing job was the fallback when it looked like football had nearly closed its door. And he didn’t know it then, but 2009 would be the last time he played quarterback.

In a 2017 interview, Kelce had explained what that year without football was like, and it drove him to get back.

“All I had been doing is playing outside, playing sports my entire life,” Kelce said. “I had never sat down and tried to earn a living like that. That’s not to hit on anybody’s 9-to-5; that’s just not for me. The light at the end of the tunnel was that if I do what I’m supposed to do instead of being a knucklehead, I can have a way better life than this.”

Kelce came back in 2011, permanently became a tight end, and went on to be named the College Football Performance Awards Tight End of the Year after a career-best 2012 season. And then came the dynasty.

The Kansas City Chiefs picked Kelce 63rd overall in the 2013 NFL Draft and built one of the most decorated careers at the position. With 13,002 receiving yards, Kelce is only the third tight end in NFL history to reach that mark. Three Super Bowls and 11 consecutive Pro Bowls round out that monumental career for now, and walking away from that old cubicle is the reason for those achievements.

And now, the contract he just signed with Kansas City is also structured to end the same way the telemarketing job did: on his terms.

The twist in Travis’ contract

When Travis Kelce finalized his contract this offseason, the initial reports called it a three-year deal worth up to $57.735 million. But the actual contract structure tells a different story.

Year 1 is the only year that matters. Kelce’s 2026 salary is $12 million fully guaranteed, with up to $3 million in incentives. The Chiefs reduced his cap hit to $4.89 million by spreading a restructured bonus across 2027 and 2028 (void years).

The three years exist on paper to help the Chiefs with cap math. Kelce has $40 million guaranteed for 2028 under this new contract. But it only applies if he’s still on the roster on June 8, 2027, and the consensus is that this season will be Kelce’s last. If he returns for 2027, KC could easily restructure his contract and make it more affordable.

Now, this contract is largely being viewed as the Chiefs’ rewarding their franchise legend. But a deal structured with cash up front, a built-in exit, and a poison pill clause worth $40 million designed not to be activated is something the player’s side pushes for.

And then there’s the game itself. Last season, Kelce caught his fewest catches since 2015, and saw his quarterback, Patrick Mahomes, tear his ACL and LCL in the same week their playoff hopes ended. Running it back this season almost feels like unfinished business, and a championship run would be the perfect way to cap it off.

Travis Kelce walked away from the cubicle the moment he decided it wasn’t working. His new contract gives him the same option in 2026. Whether the season earns a different answer is the only question he hasn’t settled yet.