Jason Kelce is coming to the defense of a fellow center.
In a lengthy post on X on Tuesday, the ESPN commentator and New Heights host offered a thoughtful defense of former Detroit Lions center Frank Ragnow, whom the team forced to return his signing bonus when he retired last year.
The story came back to the fore this week at the NFL league meetings in Phoenix, where Lions president Rod Wood confirmed to the Detroit Free Press that Ragnow gave back “a portion” of his signing bonus. Wood added that this team policy dates back decades, and also applies to franchise icons like Calvin Johnson and Barry Sanders.
Ragnow had two years left on his contract.
In response, Kelce wrote that it was “bullsh*t” for the team to require Ragnow to return some of his earnings.
“The whole purpose of a signing bonus is to be a guarantee up front that insures a salary irregardless of performance metrics, or most importantly injuries that could compromise your career in the future,” Kelce wrote.
“What makes this interesting is that Frank likely retired ‘voluntarily’, meaning, he wasn’t declared medically unfit to play by a doctor, which allows the team to ask for a prorated amount of his signing bonus back. Had he been medically deemed unfit to play football by a doctor before he retired, the team wouldn’t be able to recoup part of the signing bonus.”
This is interesting. It feels like it’s obvious that Frank retired because he was physically fighting through injuries and pain, and it got to a point that he no longer could play the game in an enjoyable, effective, or healthy way.
The whole purpose of a signing bonus is to… https://t.co/pvjgvLrsA0— Jason Kelce (@JasonKelce) March 31, 2026
Kelce added that because Ragnow had a history of getting hurt and playing through injury, his situation is different from that of an average player or the rest of the Lions’ history.
“While I get that the team has a right to ask for money back, in the spirit of the agreement, I think it’s bullsh*t Frank is being asked to return money,” the former Philadelphia captain wrote.
“This was clearly a player that the game had physically taken its toll on, and his body was clearly no longer holding up to the rigors of the NFL. It wasn’t just some player deciding he didn’t want to play anymore, it wasn’t that simple, and these signing bonuses are there to protect players from the inevitable injuries they incur on the field.”
Kelce, like J.J. Watt and even Domonique Foxworth, comes from a new generation of retired NFL athletes in the media who seem far more attuned to the small details of player well-being, who are using their platforms to advocate for change. The Ragnow story may not be the biggest news in the NFL, but Kelce clearly understands the precedent it could set and why it matters for the broader body of players in the league.
About Brendon Kleen
Brendon is a Media Commentary staff writer at Awful Announcing. He has also covered basketball and sports business at Front Office Sports, SB Nation, Uproxx and more.