Travis Kelce isn’t one to be shy about sharing his thoughts on a wide variety of topics.
On his podcast, New Heights, he and his brother Jason have opened up with their takes on everything from movies to the NFL rulebook and most everything in between.
On last week’s episode, the topic of conversation was Saquon Barkley’s new contract with the Philadelphia Eagles. Obviously, the Kelce brothers come at any Eagles news from different perspectives—Jason retired as one of the greatest players in the history of the franchise, while Travis just lost to the Birds in the Super Bowl.
Both brothers were happy for Barkley after getting his new deal, but Travis light-heartedly criticized the amount of incentive money that was in the contract.
“Ew,” Travis said when Jason mentioned that $15 million of Barkley’s contract was in the form of incentives. “I don’t like that. I don’t like that one bit.”
Jason laughed off the line, with Travis quickly following up, saying “Does he have to get a 2,000-yard season every year? F---.”
The conversation begins around the 39:30 mark.
Jason explained that he regularly had incentives in his deals, including ones tied to being named as an All-Pro or Pro Bowler.
“So you have to rely on someone’s vote to get your incentive?” Travis asked. “Ew! Damn, that’s f---ed up.”
While Travis is right that it is kind of weird that some players’ income is determined in part by voters, it’s not all that uncommon across the league, and as both brothers noted, Barkley’s deal also came with $36 million guaranteed at signing, so it’s not like he’s being left out to dry by the team.
Also, after Barkley had one of the greatest seasons we’ve seen from a running back in recent memory, he has plenty of reason to be confident he can reach any incentive his contract asks of him.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Travis Kelce Says ‘Ew’ to Saquon Barkley’s New Incentive-Laden Contract.
