Super Bowl 2024 News: Who Is More Underpaid – Travis Kelce or Brock Purdy?

Brock Purdy is a shockingly underpaid quarterback. While his counterparts like Lamar Jackson are signed to a base salary of about $14 million, Purdy’s base salary isn’t even close. There is a 195% difference between Purdy and Lamar’s contract! It’s hard to believe that a QB with a Super Bowl potential is having to deal with such lowballed prices. But here is he, trying to do his best with his set amount.

As the Niners reach the Super Bowl LVIII against the Chiefs, some interesting facts have come to the surface about the Chiefs TE Travis Kelce and the 49ers QB Brock Purdy. The running theme remains that both the star football players are recognized to be highly underpaid, given the potential they host. Despite knowing that, their winning mentality is what keeps them at bay from the negativity that comes their way concerning their contracts.

A brief comparison of Brock Purdy and Travis Kelce’s NFL contracts

According to Spotrac, since signing with the 49ers, Purdy hasn’t had much luck upgrading his base salary. On top of that, the bonus that he gets every year isn’t comparable to his counterparts, who have even underperformed in his comparison. Purdy started in 2022 with a base salary of about $700k a year, and he made about $870k this season.

When Travis Kelce signed with the Chiefs, he got a sum of $20.75 million in guaranteed money (2020 salary + 2021 salary + 2021 roster bonus). Things changed drastically in 2023 when his base salary was increased to $11,250,000 with a roster bonus of $661,755, along with a workout bonus of $250,000 and restructuring incentives of about $2,551,667.

Come next season, Kelce will be making $12,000,000 as a base salary with the same incentives, that is, the roster bonus, workout bonus, and restructuring incentives being the same for the 2024 season. Drawing a comparison between the two, while Kelce is undoubtedly underpaid for the experience and talent he brings to the side, it is still Brock Purdy who earns way less than what one would expect for a QB. This becomes even more realistic when we look at his contract in relation to other Quarterbacks of the league like Patrick Mahomes, Jalen Hurts etc. But what makes these players compromise that much with their hard-earned money?

READ MORE- Lamar Jackson vs Brock Purdy: 195% Worth Salary Gap Resurfaces as 49ers and Ravens Inch Nearer To Super Bowl

Why do Kelce and Purdy deal with these deflated salaries?

For Kelce, the NFL has always been more about winning than the money he makes. His agent often loves to remind him of his perceived low salary and pursues negotiating with his team for more money. Kelce mentioned that when Tyreek Hill went to the Dolphins and made about $30 million a year, he did give it a thought to enter the free market as well.

But according to Kelce, going to a losing team and making a ton of money is not worth it for him. The difference is, while he is underpaid with the Chiefs, he loves winning, and that’s what the Chiefs are doing with their position in the SB LVIII.

As for Purdy, he is caught up in the classic scenario of win-based incentives. Last year, he pocketed about $162k for getting into the NFC Championship game. Per CBS Sports, he would be eligible for an extra $174k if the Niners made it to the Conference championship, which they won. And if Purdy wins the Super Bowl, he is destined to make another $164k, but if he loses, he will still pocket about $89k. Such is his contract!

The article also pointed out that according to the Collaborative Bargaining Agreement (CBA), “Rookie Contract for a Drafted Rookie may not be renegotiated, amended or altered in any way until after the final regular season game of the player’s third contract year.” Hence no readjustments to his contract can be made till 2025.

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