AFC Notes: Travis Kelce, Contract Details, Chiefs, Chargers, Raiders

Chargers

  • The Chargers signed CB Deane Leonard to a one-year, $2 million deal that includes $1.215 million guaranteed, a $1.812 million salary with $1.215 million fully guaranteed, and a $187,500 roster bonus for being active in the first game. (Wilson)

Chiefs

Chiefs TE Travis Kelce was asked about returning for the 2026 season, given his relationship with fiancée Taylor Swift, and eventually said there wasn’t much doubt in his mind about running it back with Kansas City.

“Without a doubt, we share the same love for what we do, and we’ve had this, you know, fortunately, we’ve had this desire since we were kids in our selective professions,” Kelce said of Swift, via NFL.com. “It’s just, it’s amazing to see her keep going to the table, keep finding new things to write about, keep finding, you know, new melodies and things like that. And on top of that, still see her have that love and joy in what she does. And, yeah, of course, that’s motivating. That’s motivating for anybody to see, let alone, you know, my fiancée, and then, and knowing that I’m going through something where I’m trying to figure out exactly what the future holds for me. Something like that definitely motivates me to say, You know what? I’m not done either. You know? I still have some ideas in the back of my mind. and still got some juice left to play this game.”

“I’m not gonna lie. It was pretty short and brief, and the Chiefs knew where I was the entire time on it,” Kelce said of his decision to play in 2026. “I think you always need to take a step back, breathe, let the emotions of the season settle down and see where the body is and things like that. But, man, I’m still, I’m still in love with this game. I still love going to work, putting on the pads, grinding it out, and just, you know, playing the game. And I think my best opportunity was playing for the Chiefs yet again and running this thing back with Pat Mahomes and coach Reid. Got my guy, (offensive coordinator) Eric Bieniemy back. There’s a lot of pieces in Kansas City that I absolutely love and I can’t wait to get back in the building with them.”

“I think the biggest thing (about) coming back was that we got to be even hungrier than we’ve been before,” Kelce concluded. “Talking to Pat, talking to coach (Andy) Reid and the guys, there’s a lot of dog mentality right now to get this thing fixed, and that mentality itself is already kind of motivating me to get to where I need to be during the season.”

  • Art Stapleton reports that the Browns and Chiefs attempted to sign RT Jermaine Eluemunor before he resigned with New York.
  • The Chiefs signed LS James Winchester to a one-year, $1.7 million deal that includes a $400,000 signing bonus and a $1.3 million fully guaranteed salary. (Wilson)

Raiders

  • The Raiders signed OLB Kwity Paye to a three-year, $81.28 million deal that includes $31.28 million guaranteed, a $10.238 million signing bonus, a $5.5 million fully guaranteed salary in 2026, a $15.5 million salary in 2027 with $15.5 million guaranteed for injury at signing and $10 million guaranteed for skill and cap at signing plus an additional $5.5 million guaranteed on the fourth day of the 2027 league year, a $15.232 million salary in 2028, and annual $30,000 per-game active roster bonuses totaling up to $510,000. (Wilson)
  • The Raiders signed LB Nakobe Dean to a three-year, $36.03 million deal that includes $23 million guaranteed, a $5.75 million signing bonus, a $5.75 million salary in 2026 with $11.5 million guaranteed for injury at signing and $8.5 million guaranteed for skill and cap at signing, an additional $3 million guaranteed for skill and cap if on the roster on the third day of the 2027 league year, and $30,000 per-game active roster bonuses annually. (Wilson)
  • The Raiders signed WR Jalen Nailor to a three-year, $35.03 million deal that includes $23 million guaranteed, a $6 million signing bonus, a $5.5 million fully guaranteed salary in 2026, an $11.5 million salary in 2027 with $11.5 million guaranteed for injury at signing, $6.5 million guaranteed for skill and cap at signing, the remaining guarantees vesting on the third day of the 2027 league year, and $30,000 per-game active roster bonuses annually. (Wilson)
  • The Raiders signed K Matt Gay to a one-year, $1.6 million deal that includes $1.35 million guaranteed, a $200,000 signing bonus, a $1.4 million salary with $1.15 million fully guaranteed, and up to $650,000 in field goal percentage incentives, bringing the maximum average annual value to $2.25 million. (Wilson)
  • Nebraska RB Emmett Johnson said he had six formal Combine interviews, including with the Raiders. (Justin Melo)

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