Kansas City and Philadelphia are headed to the Super Bowl, and both have been helped along by franchise tight ends. Dallas Goedert and (especially) Travis Kelce are elite players, and they come with the added benefit of also having modest contracts.
In the NFL, salaries of the top-end players are limited by the franchise tag. Each team gets to stop one player from reaching unrestricted free agency if it instead promises to give him a salary equal to the five highest-paid players at his position (or 20 percent raise over his previous salary, whichever is higher).
Sounds reasonable enough, but it doesn’t seem to work equitably with the different positions. Specifically, more elite wide receivers have been able to land big contracts, pushing the financial ceiling at that position a lot higher than at tight end.
Kelce, most notably, has a contract averaging $14.3 million. That’s about $10 million less than Stefon Diggs, DK Metcalf, A.J. Brown. Those receivers are all great players, but they don’t seem to be almost twice as value as Kelce.
Two of the other three teams to reach the conference championship games also have tight ends in the Kelce price range, Goedert and George Kittle. They’re all really good, and the look like bargains when compared to wide receivers. Robert Woods, Allen Robinson and Hunter Renfrow all make slightly more than those guys. And Keenan Allen, Mike Williams, Brandin Cooks and Michael Thomas make about $5 million more.
Most glaringly, Robbie Anderson and Kenny Golladay both make more than Kelce or Goedert.
| PASS CATCHERS WITH CONTRACTS AVERAGING $10 MILLION | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Pos | Player | Team | Average |
| WR | Tyreek Hill | Mia. | $30,000,000 |
| WR | Davante Adams | L.V. | $28,000,000 |
| WR | DeAndre Hopkins | Ari. | $27,250,000 |
| WR | Cooper Kupp | LAR | $26,700,000 |
| WR | A.J. Brown | Phil. | $25,000,000 |
| WR | Stefon Diggs | Buff. | $24,000,000 |
| WR | DK Metcalf | Sea. | $24,000,000 |
| WR | Deebo Samuel | S.F. | $23,850,000 |
| WR | Terry McLaurin | Was. | $23,200,000 |
| WR | DJ Moore | Car. | $20,628,000 |
| WR | Keenan Allen | LAC | $20,025,000 |
| WR | Amari Cooper | Cle. | $20,000,000 |
| WR | Chris Godwin | T.B. | $20,000,000 |
| WR | Mike Williams | LAC | $20,000,000 |
| WR | Brandin Cooks | Hou. | $19,882,353 |
| WR | Michael Thomas | N.O. | $19,250,000 |
| WR | Diontae Johnson | Pitt. | $18,355,000 |
| WR | Kenny Golladay | NYG | $18,000,000 |
| WR | Christian Kirk | Jac. | $18,000,000 |
| WR | Tyler Lockett | Sea. | $17,300,000 |
| TE | Darren Waller | L.V. | $17,000,000 |
| WR | Mike Evans | T.B. | $16,500,000 |
| WR | Robert Woods | Ten. | $16,250,000 |
| WR | Hunter Renfrow | L.V. | $15,850,000 |
| WR | Allen Robinson | LAR | $15,500,000 |
| WR | Courtland Sutton | Den. | $15,000,000 |
| TE | • George Kittle | S.F. | $15,000,000 |
| WR | Adam Thielen | Min. | $14,892,353 |
| WR | Robbie Anderson | Ari. | $14,750,000 |
| TE | • Travis Kelce | K.C. | $14,312,500 |
| TE | • Dallas Goedert | Phil. | $14,250,000 |
| TE | Mark Andrews | Balt. | $14,000,000 |
| TE | David Njoku | Cle. | $13,687,500 |
| TE | Dawson Knox | Buff. | $13,000,000 |
| WR | Corey Davis | NYJ | $12,500,000 |
| TE | Hunter Henry | N.E. | $12,500,000 |
| TE | Jonnu Smith | N.E. | $12,500,000 |
| WR | Curtis Samuel | Was. | $11,500,000 |
| WR | Michael Gallup | Dall. | $11,500,000 |
| WR | Nelson Agholor | N.E. | $11,000,000 |
| TE | Dalton Schultz | Dall. | $10,931,000 |
| TE | Mike Gesicki | Mia. | $10,931,000 |
| WR | Tyler Boyd | Cin. | $10,750,000 |
| TE | Zach Ertz | Ari. | $10,550,000 |
| WR | DeVante Parker | N.E. | $10,166,667 |
| TE | Taysom Hill | N.O. | $10,000,000 |
| WR | Tim Patrick | Den. | $10,000,000 |
| WR | Russell Gage | T.B. | $10,000,000 |
| WR | Marquez Valdes-Scantling | K.C. | $10,000,000 |
| WR | DJ Chark | Det. | $10,000,000 |
Given the way positions are paid, I suppose it makes sense for teams to prioritize tight ends. They provide more bang for the buck, at least for now. With the franchise tag arrangement, it’s easier to keep them around. Kyle Pitts, as an example, was drafted before JaMarr Chase, Jaylen Waddle and DeVonta Smith, but I expect his second contract (even if he really lights things up in the coming years) will be smaller because of the position he plays.
The upcoming draft looks like a good one for teams looking for tight ends. Notre Dame’s Mike Mayer probably will be picked in the first half of the first round, and another half dozen could be selected before the end of Day 2.
—Ian Allan