AFC Notes: Travis Kelce, Bo Nix, Broncos, Chiefs, Raiders

Broncos

2024 first-round QB Bo Nix addressed his criticisms through the pre-draft process regarding his arm strength and touched on how he feels he can make every throw. 

“Quite frankly, I completed a lot of long ones, too,” Nix said, via ESPN’s Jeff Legwold. “I don’t mind when people go back and watch the film. They can see everything they need to watch. That’s here and gone. I’m excited to be here now and do whatever I need to do to win games. … I’ll do whatever the coaches ask of me and do it at a high level. I know if you do that — statistically speaking watching other guys in the league — if you do that you get to play and stick around for a long time.”

Chiefs

Following signing Chiefs TE Travis Kelce to a two-year, $34.25 million extension, GM Brett Veach said getting a deal done was important to owner Clark Hunt. 

“Hard to put in words what Travis means to this organization, this city, and he was certainly a priority to adjust his contract for us and it was something that was important for Clark [Hunt]. So very fitting that Travis [is] now the highest-paid tight end in these two years,” Veach said, via Adam Teicher of ESPN.

When asked about how much longer Kelce can play, Veach is confident the tight end can continue oroducing well into his thirties. 

“Every now and then you have one of these guys that are outliers and certainly Travis is one of those players,” Veach said. “Today we had a chance to get out there in Phase 2 [of the offseason program] and guys were out there running around, and Travis was the first guy in line, and I mean he looked like he was 28 years old. The odds of someone playing this far into the thirties are very low, but it does happen, and it happens with just unicorns in the profession, and Travis is one of those and we’ll certainly celebrate this with him and hopefully we can ride this thing even longer. So, we’ll just have to wait and see. But I’ve seen no signs of [Kelce] slowing down and everyone notices the kind of postseason he had, and he just found that extra gear and these special ones, these special players are always able to find that extra gear. If anybody could do it, Travis can.”

Raiders

The Raiders signed QB Gardner Minshew after a solid season filling in for QB Anthony Richardson in Indianapolis. Minshew mentioned Las Vegas was always his top option heading into his free agency. 

“It was my first option,” Minshew said, via Maxx Crosby’s The Rush podcast. “When we were stacking it up, I think I was their first option. As soon as free agency started, we made the call and that was it. Couldn’t have been easier. I couldn’t have been more excited.”

“With AP, everything I’ve heard is incredible. Couldn’t get better reviews, like it doesn’t even sound real. Being around him a little bit, seems legit, which is really exciting. Just being around the guys in the building, everybody is on the same page. Everybody just wants to get better. Everybody wants to win. I think when you do that, you got a chance. No matter what you have going on, no matter who’s on the roster, if everybody’s pulling the same direction I think you’ve got a good chance.”