Nick Wright called out Ian Rapoport for not disclosing the full details of Travis Kelce's contract.
Rapoport posted on Monday that the Chiefs signed Kelce to a three-year, $54.7 million deal with up to $3 million in additional incentives. While that information is technically correct, there's almost no chance of the veteran tight end receiving that full payment.
Kelce will make a fully guaranteed $12 million in 2026, but the contract gives him the veteran's minimum in 2027 and 2028. The Chiefs would be on the hook for $40 million in fully guaranteed money on June 7, 2027, so they'd void the deal beforehand and negotiate a new one if he decides to keep playing.
Wright feels Rapoport should have disclosed those pertinent details to the public. The Fox Sports personality criticized the NFL Media insider on his What's Wright podcast.
"I’ve had dinner with this guy. I share an agent with this guy. I have nothing against him personally. Much to the opposite," Wright said. "But Ian Rapoport’s tweet about Travis Kelce's contract … this is now the second time in a couple weeks that Rapoport has, via his very popular and followed Twitter account, blatantly misinformed the public."
Wright challenges Rapoport's reporting
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The first case Wright referred to was the Detroit Lions trading David Montgomery to the Houston Texans earlier this month. Rapoport initially said the Lions received a fifth-round pick for the running back before clarifying the actual return of a fourth-rounder, a seventh-rounder, and offensive lineman Juice Scruggs.
Rapoport followed that update by writing, "So, fifth-round value."
Wright called the Kelce situation worse when explaining the effective terms of his new deal.
"There is absolutely no shot, even if Travis decides, 'I want to keep playing,' that he is going to get a $40 million balloon payment in early March," Wright declared. "Everyone knows that. Which is why, if your goal is to inform the public, report the actual information. The real, actionable intel is Travis Kelce is on a de facto one-year, $12 million deal where he can make $3 million in incentives."
As has increasingly become a common practice among insiders, Rapoport mentioned the agent who brokered the deal (Mike Simon of Milk Honey Sport) in his tweet. Wright implied the insider ran with the larger figure to appease the agency.
"I'm not Edward R. Murrow, and I'm not even a journalist," Wright said. "But if you’re going to consider yourself a reporter and your job is to inform the public about news, then you cannot willingly put out intentionally, wildly misleading information because you want the guy who runs Milk Honey Sport to owe you a favor."
