Travis Kelce Fantasy Football Outlook After Returning To KC
In today's Fantasy Life Newsletter, presented by the NFL Draft Guide:
Remember a few weeks ago when it seemed like Travis Kelce might hang up his cleats to become a full-time podcaster? Well, the 36-year-old tight end reportedly signed a juicy THREE-YEAR DEAL worth up to $57 million to stick around Kansas City instead.
Whoa. I guess even he’s concerned about these gas prices.
Except … it’s not really a three-year deal. It’s basically a one-year contract with a couple of void years tacked on at the end, presumably to ensure Kelce retires in Kansas City while simultaneously helping the Chiefs’ cap situation. It’s what we in the biz call “a win-win.” And also “quite confusing.”
Side note: It’s this type of shenaniganry that makes skeptics say things like “the cap isn’t real” and “NFL contracts don’t mean anything.” And they probably have a point.
If this is really Kelce’s parting season, what should we expect for fantasy?
Last season, he put up a respectable 76-851-5 stat line and notched a TE6 finish in PPR. Those aren’t exactly “prime Kelce” numbers, but hey, leave the guy alone. He’s old. This man should be playing shuffleboard in slip-resistant loafers on a cruise ship somewhere, not catching heaters from Patrick Mahomes.
Fun fact: Kelce was the oldest player to catch a pass for positive yards in 2025 (Aaron Rodgers would’ve had this record, but the one pass he caught went for negative nine yards).
We currently have Kelce at TE12 in our redraft rankings. But if the Chiefs leave Day 2 of the NFL draft without adding any pass catchers, it’s safe to say he’ll leapfrog a few of the younger tight ends ahead of him.
Now for the real question: Could this deal reset the old guy pass-catcher market? Keenan Allen must be ecstatic. Philip Rivers is already planning to convert to tight end. Maybe the Rams should go ahead and lock up Davante Adams on a six-year deal just to get ahead of it …
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Denzel Boston never had a big breakout (62-881-11 receiving, 12 games last year), but he has good size (6-foot-4, 212 pounds) and agility (4.28-second short shuttle).
Pick via Broncos.
📉 1.19: Panthers—TE Kenyon Sadiq (Oregon)
The Panthers fortified many of their weaknesses in free agency, but they could still use an upgrade at TE.
Enter Kenyon Sadiq, who is undersized (6-foot-3, 241 pounds) but fast (4.39, 40-yard dash, 1.54, 10-yard split) and explosive (43.5-inch vertical jump, 11-1 broad jump).
The 1.01 Debate In Dynasty Superflex Rookie Drafts
If you have the 1.01 rookie pick in your dynasty fantasy football league, first of all … bummer about last season. Sorry, it didn’t work out. Unless … you purposely tanked your season to get the 1.01? Or maybe you actually barreled your way to a championship but had the good foresight to trade for the soon-to-be league loser’s pick? In which case, CONGRATS!
If you have the first selection and play in a 1QB league, just go ahead and queue up Jeremiyah Love now. But in Superflex formats, that decision might not be so easy.
Let’s compare the superstar running back and this year’s rookie QB1, Fernando Mendoza, and figure out the draft-day move that will lead to more fantasy prosperity.
The Case For Fernando Mendoza
AKA: the Positional Scarcity argument. How many consistently solid quarterbacks do we have from a dynasty perspective? Not just guys that we can get by with for this year, but QBs who we expect to be reliable starters even a couple of years from now. 10? 12? The number is no higher than 16, even if we stretch the definition of “reliable.”
So getting what projects to be a pretty solid QB makes plenty of sense in Superflex. As long as you firmly believe that Mendoza comps closer to store brand Justin Herbert than slightly sped up Mason Rudolph. Quarterback evaluations are tricky, though. And we know that bad coaches or situations can screw up even very good prospects.
But QBs typically retain significant value in Supeflex for at least a couple of years as long as A.) they’re locked into starting roles and B.) don’t immediately stink. Here’s a look at the current dynasty values (via KeepTradeCut) of consensus first-round Superflex QBs from the previous two draft classes:
Cam Ward - 55 overall, above former “generational” wideout Marvin Harrison Jr. (59).
Drake Maye, Caleb Williams and Jayden Daniels are all inside the top nine overall, beating out other studs from the 2024 class like Malik Nabers (10) and Brock Bowers (13).
For the sake of this argument, let’s all pretend for a moment that J.J. McCarthy (165) does not exist as an NFL quarterback and is instead having a great time working at a Dave & Buster’s somewhere.
Assuming a baseline of competence from Mendoza, do we think his floor is lower than Ward’s? Doubtful. He’s too polished and too good a processor for that.
So then, can he touch the upside of the other, more mobile QBs listed above? Again, doubtful. Dart, the lowest-valued of the group, had SEVEN weeks as a top-10 fantasy QB in his 12 rookie starts. All of them without Nabers in the lineup, by the way. It’s tough to imagine a pressure-averse rookie pocket passer lighting up the scoreboard like that out of the gate. Especially if he doesn’t land with a team that will make life easy on him …
Mendoza is almost certainly heading to the marriage-turned-anullment capital of the world, Las Vegas. Despite repeated attempts to persuade them, it doesn’t seem the Raiders are likely to trade back from the first overall pick and use the additional accrued value to plug the many other holes on their roster. We can debate whether the Raiders are a good fit for Mendoza and his fantasy value, but at least he has Brock Bowers and Ashton Jeanty to work with. And at least we know what to expect.
We have no idea what to expect with Love. And that makes his floor a little shakier, despite being one of the best running back prospects from the last few years.
