It's not easy to become a dynasty. In fact, it's the hardest thing to do in sports, and yet only a few franchises in the history of the NFL can claim they have done it, and the Kansas City Chiefs are one of them. One of the hardest things about completing that dynasty is keeping everyone together and on the same page throughout its duration.
You have to keep everyone feeling important and happy, whether it be with how they are being used or the money they are getting. You also have to keep players from going to other teams, especially key players. The Chiefs have gone through some of that and have still been able to complete the dynasty run, even though it's still not over.
They won a Super Bowl in 2019, made it to one the next year, lost in the AFC Championship the year after, and then traded Tyreek Hill, their second or third-best player at the time, to the Miami Dolphins because he wanted to get paid. Those are the types of things that usually end dynasties - when certain players start to get greedy. The Chiefs did not let it ruin theirs and ended up winning the next two Super Bowls.
To go on a historic run and create a dynasty, you need guys who are unselfish and don't care as much about the money. That way, they can allocate it in other places to keep the team from getting worse and losing those key players who cannot afford to take a pay cut. In other words, you need guys like Travis Kelce, who has taken a pay cut the last few years, when you think about how good he is compared to how much he is getting paid.
"When I saw Tyreek Hill go and get $30 million a year, in the back of my head, I was like, man, that's two to three times what I'm making right now," Kelce said via Vanity Fair. "The free market looks like fun until you go somewhere and you don't win. I love winning. I love the situation I'm in."
According to Spotrac, Kelce is the fourth-highest paid tight end, but is the best tight end in the league by a mile, and possibly the greatest tight end we have ever seen walk the field. He is getting paid $14 million a year when guys like Darren Waller are getting paid $17 million. Kelce could easily get a $20 million contract from a team in free agency the last time he was able to hit the market, but instead, he chose to take a lesser deal.
Meanwhile, Tyreek Hill is the highest-paid wide receiver in the league but has had a first-round exit from the playoffs the last two years. Meanwhile, Kansas City has turned the Hill trade into Trent McDuffie, the best cornerback in the league. Recently, you could say the Chiefs have shown another example of not getting greedy and doing what's best for the team to keep that dynasty alive.
Not long ago, Patrick Mahomes agreed to restructure his contract to create $20 million in cap space. Sure, Hill is getting paid far more than he would have, but the Chiefs have two Super Bowl rings since, which, a lot of players would rather have, including Travis Kelce.
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