Toronto Argonauts’ quarterback Chad Kelly believes a second Grey Cup ring is his ticket to an NFL comeback.
The 29-year-old pivot joined Barstool Sports’ massively popular Pardon My Take podcast for an hour-long segment on Thursday, marking his second appearance on the show since coming off the bench to win the 109th Grey Cup in November. Discussing his goal to return to the NFL, he pointed to a championship repeat as a way to force teams’ hands.
“You’ve gotta just win right now. And if I go out and do what I was meant to do — which is to play football at a high level and score touchdowns and win games — if we go back-to-back championships, they can’t really hold you back from the NFL,” Kelly said. “But that doesn’t necessarily mean that I don’t want to be back in the CFL as well. It’s a great game.”
Originally selected with the final pick in the 2017 NFL Draft, Kelly fell in the process due to off-the-field concerns despite a stellar collegiate career at Ole Miss. He spent four seasons south of the border with the Denver Broncos and Indianapolis Colts, playing just one game as a backup. He was released by the Colts in September 2020 and sat out a year, before joining the Argonauts last season.
The six-foot-two, 216-pound dual-threat passer started just one game in his first CFL season, going 23-of-35 for 264 yards with two touchdowns and one interception in the regular-season finale against Montreal, rushing six times for 35 yards and a score. He ran for six touchdowns as the team’s primary short-yardage quarterback in 2022.
Despite the quiet year, Kelly became the biggest story of the Grey Cup after starter McLeod Bethel-Thompson suffered a dislocated thumb in the fourth quarter. He completed four-of-six passes for 43 yards in relief and set up the game-winning touchdown with a memorable 20-yard scramble on second-and-15, upsetting the two-time defending champion Winnipeg Blue Bombers 24-23.
With Bethel-Thompson departing for the USFL due to family reasons, Kelly is expected to take over the Argos’ starting job. However, the nephew of Pro Football Hall of Famer Jim Kelly has spent much of the offseason lobbying for another shot at the NFL, deeming himself to be better than half of the league’s current starters.
“I think I have some good people that are in the works right now. We’ve talked to the Cleveland Browns and the [Carolina] Panthers recently,” he said. “People have been talking obviously, but they don’t want to pull that trigger. They don’t want to go a step ahead and go, ‘Yes.'”
Kelly believes his talent and resume are undeniable, citing compliments from the likes of Patrick Mahomes and Aaron Donald. NFL teams are simply unwilling to rock the boat by acquiring a player of his reputation, information he has gleaned from a reliable source — former CFL quarterback and coach Marcus Brady, who is now a senior offensive assistant with the Philadelphia Eagles.
“That’s a real thing. I’ve spoken to an offensive coordinator who was in the CFL — he was my offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach in Indy. He was like, ‘Look, a lot of teams don’t want a threatening backup that’s gonna take the starter’s job,'” he explained. “They want the starter to feel comfortable, which I get, but you’ve got to still be able to push the starter. Otherwise, how are you getting better?”
Kelly also points to politics behind-the-scenes as the reason he is no longer in the NFL, with poor representation from his first agent holding him back in the early years. He now has a new representative, whom he credits for steering him toward the CFL instead of accepting an offer from the USFL or XFL.
“My agent was just kind of like, ‘Hey, this league is a little newer, I think you’d be better off in a bigger city, 20 games, blah, blah, blah,'” Kelly recalled, noting that the decision still leaves unanswered questions. “I could have played for 10 games and maybe had a chance to go back [to the NFL].”
Nevertheless, Kelly is pleased with where he is at in his career. Taking over the Argos’ top job in 2023 gives him the chance to lead a team for the first time since the 2016 season at Ole Miss, though there is one thing he would change.
“Obviously, I was on a sh*t contract and still am,” Kelly remarked. “I mean, it’s not a sh*t contract, but it’s all incentive-based. Whereas guys want guaranteed money, guys want base salary. You shouldn’t want to just hit the incentives, you want to make more.”
After earning just over $91,000 before playoff bonuses in 2022, Kelly is scheduled to collect $87,000 in hard money next year. With hefty performance-based incentives written in, he can earn a maximum of $239,000 for a season in which he throws for over 5,000 yards and wins Most Outstanding Player — still well-below market value for a CFL starting quarterback.
Should he reach those marks, Kelly can expect a significant pay raise to stay in the three-down league. However, he hopes it will translate into an even larger NFL paycheque and has a message for general managers who still doubt his football acumen.
“Bring me in and let’s talk football,” he said. “Let’s put on a game, let’s watch football. You tell me yes, no, no, yes, whatever you want to do.”
