Getty Browns tight end Ricky Seals-Jones
After remaining quiet in the early days of the new NFL year, the Kansas City Chiefs are officially making moves. Fresh off the heels of signing wide receiver Sammy Watkins, Terez Paylor reported Friday evening that Kansas City signed tight end Ricky Seals-Jones, adding some help to Super Bowl champion Travis Kelce.
The Chiefs have reached an agreement with TE Ricky Seals-Jones, a source tells me.
The 25-year-old Seals-Jones played the last campaign with the Cleveland Browns, recording 14 passes for 229 yards and four touchdowns.
This news should come as a relief for Kelce, who saw second-string TE Blake Bell sign with the Dallas Cowboys in the early days of the offseason. Even without Bell, Kansas City’s tight end core was rather depleted, so it makes sense for general manager Brett Veach to strengthen this unit when the Chiefs begin their Super Bowl defense later this year.
Chiefs Had a Very Busy Friday
Friday was a pretty busy day for the Chiefs front office. Friday morning, Paylor also announced Watkins’ restructured one-year deal, valued at $9 million and can increase up to $16 million after incentives. NFL Network’s Mike Garafolo outlined the entirety of the 26-yer-old’s new contract below.
#Chiefs deal for Sammy Watkins:
—$1m signing bonus
—$7m base salary
—$1m in per-game roster bonuses
—Up to $1m playtime/TD incentives (75% or 7 TDs gets him the full $1m)
—Up to $6m in performance and postseason incentives (See next tweet)
—No-trade clause
Watkins was particularly happy with the terms, voicing his approval on Twitter with confirmation of his return.
Im back KC LETS GET IT..! #RUNITBACKTOUR
Someone else especially thrilled? Quarterback Patrick Mahomes, who responded to his teammates post referring to him as “My brother!!”
It’s all smiles in Kansas City, and looks like there’s plenty of unfinished business left to be done.
Andy Reid Was Coy About Watkins’ Return Earlier This Week
Speaking with reporters about the possibility of Watkins returning, head coach Andy Reid was hesitant to provide too much detail about whether he’d be returning, arguing that general manager Brett Veach was the guy behind player contracts.
“Right now, he’s here,” Reid said, via Arrowhead Pride. “That’s the positive part. And we sure like Sammy. He’s done a great job for us. As good a player as he is, he’s even a better person. So we’ve really enjoyed him being here. But other than that, I can’t really lead you on either way, because that’s Brett’s area. I’m honestly not dealing with it.
“He deals with all that stuff. I try to stay as far away from it as I can, to be honest with you. I dealt with all that while I was in Philadelphia. As you know, Brett’s a great communicator. If they’re doing anything there, he’s in it and talking about it. But nothing’s happened at this point. I do know that part.”
Perhaps he didn’t want to ruin the news or genuinely didn’t know, but considering the compliments Reid directed toward him, Watkins’ tenure in Kansas City has been a pretty satisfactory one.