National Football League star Travis Kelce’s average base salary is currently $14.3 million—an astronomical wage by most people's standards, but according to the Kansas City Chiefs' most valuable player he’s “underpaid.”
What’s more, he’s not mad about it.
“My managers and agents love to tell me how underpaid I am,” Kelce—who will take home $11.25 million this year, marking the 51st-highest salary in the NFL—recently told Vanity Fair.
He’s not wrong; Like any job hopper, he could probably command way more money by moving to another club. Last year, his former teammate Tyreek Hill signed a four-year contract to join the Miami Dolphins for around $120 million.
But actually, for Kelce, enjoying your job is priceless.
"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,” he explained.
Of course the idea of earning more money to do, essentially, the same job elsewhere has crossed his mind. However, he doesn’t think it’s worth trading in his happiness for a fatter paycheck.
“You see how much more money you could be making and, yeah, it hits you in the gut a little bit. It makes you think you’re being taken advantage of,” Kelce added. “But I know I enjoy coming to that building every single day.”
Money doesn’t buy happiness—once you’re well-off
Kelce isn’t the first celebrity to speak out about the perils of chasing money.
Shark Tank star and real estate mogul Barbara Corcoran recently echoed that she’s no happier now than when she was “dirt poor.”
We all need enough funds to cover our basic needs, but beyond that, Corcoran insists, she has the same life worries today as she did before coming into her fortune.
“I’m no happier today than I was when I was dirt poor. You think something would have changed? No, I’m still insecure about the same things. I’m still nervous about the same things,” she said.
What’s more, research has consistently found that happiness plateaus after earning a certain amount.
There’s little consensus on what that threshold is, but Kelce’s cool eight-figure salary would certainly shatter that ceiling.
It’s a lesson that millions of workers learned—albeit too late—during the Great Resignation.
"The Great Regret"
Recent surveys have revealed that the vast majority of those who jumped ship for better pay want their old roles back—with Gen Z the most likely to regret moving.
“In the Great Resignation employers were throwing huge sign-up bonuses and other wads of cash at job switchers. ‘The Great Regret’ is a lesson for job seekers to do better advance scouting before they jump ship,” Andrew Crapuchettes, CEO of Idaho-based recruitment agency Red Balloon, previously told Fortune.
Much like the NFL star, he added that he’s witnessing “more and more job seekers prioritizing work-life balance and positive workplace culture above higher compensation.”
Although Kelce’s words of wisdom have come too late for the many who already regret job-hopping, it serves as an important reminder to weigh up more than salary when considering a lucrative new job offer.
Ultimately, as Kelce clearly knows too well, the grass isn’t necessarily greener on the other side.
