The Kansas City Chiefs have a busy offseason ahead of them as they look to retool the roster after falling flat on their face against the Philadelphia Eagles in Super Bowl 59. Right now, the main concern is with tight end Travis Kelce’s future and whether the All-Pro will decide to call it a career or return for the 2025 NFL season.
After losing the Super Bowl on Sunday, the tight end says he wants to take some time to reflect on the past season and think about whether returning to the field is something he wants to do.
“I know everybody wants to know whether or not I’m playing next year, and right now, I’m just kicking everything down the road,” Kelce explained on his podcast “New Heights.” “I’m not making any crazy decisions, but right now, the biggest thing is just being there for my teammates and being there for my coaches, understanding that there’s a lot that goes into this thing.”
“That’s a lot of wear and tear on your body,” Kelce said. “That’s a lot of time spent in the building focusing on your craft, focusing on the task at hand, every challenge that you set up for yourself. It’s—that process can be grueling. It can weigh on you. It can make you better, or it can drive you crazy at the same time.”
“Right now, it’s one of those things where it was kind of driving me crazy this year,” he added. “I think that it happens as you kind of tail off towards the back 9 of your career, as [Scott Van Pelt] would say.”
“As you see yourself or feel yourself not have the success that you once used to have, it’s a tough pill to swallow,” he said. “On top of that, to not be there in the biggest moments, knowing your team’s counting on you, man, those are all extremely hard things too—it’s just a tough reality.”
“I think I’m gonna take some time to figure it out,” Kelce said. “I think I owe it to my teammates that if I do come back, that it’s gonna be something that, it’s a wholehearted decision, I’m not half-assing it, and that I’m fully here for them.
“I think I can play, it’s just whether or not I’m motivated or it’s the best decision for me as a man, as a human as a person to take on all that responsibility.”
It’s understandable why Kelce’s contemplating retirement. Although he still ranked amongst the top players of his position with 97 receptions for 823 yards and 3 touchdowns, his 2024 campaign was still a far cry from just three seasons ago when he tallied 110 catches for 1,338 yards, and 12 touchdowns as he led his team to win Super Bowl 57.
As Kelce explained the process of going through the offseason, staying in shape, going through OTA’s and minicamps, traveling up to St. Joe for those long practices in the summer heat during training camp, and then going through a 17-game season followed by an extra two games just to get to the Super Bowl, and then playing that game, it sounds like Kelce dreads getting ready for the 2025 season and may not want to do it anymore – but doesn’t want to let his teammates down at the same time.
Kelce wanting to take some time to make a decision is not surprising, It’s typical for veteran players to take some time away before coming to terms that they can no longer play the game they’ve loved since their pop-warner days as little kids. But a report from the Athletic’s Nate Taylor suggests the veteran tight end will be forced to decide his future sooner than he might want to.
According to Taylor, the Kansas City Chiefs front office is giving Kelce a month to tell them what his plans for the future are, with a deadline set on March 14, two days after the start of the new league year begins on March 12.
The business side of the NFL is cruel. But it’s easy to understand where the Chiefs are coming from and why they don’t want to be left in the dark for very long. Kelce is obviously a leader and an important piece of this team. If he wants to stay, it wouldn’t be surprising if they work around his $19.8 million cap hit for 2025 and restructure his contract to something more cap-friendly.
However, if Kelce leaves the team through retirement – or by getting cut -, the Chiefs can save approximately $17 million in cap space, which would help significantly considering the handful of holes the team needs to address this offseason, and with 20 in-house free agents scheduled to hit the open market.
Kansas City also needs a decision from Kelce to ensure they attack free agency and the draft the right way. For instance, the Chiefs wouldn’t want to be in a situation where Kelce decides to retire right before training camp, leaving the team stranded with massive shoes to fill at tight end.
By making Kelce decide a couple of days after the new league year, it gives them the information they need to evaluate how much of a glaring need tight end will be and how they’ll approach filling that position – through free agency and/or the draft. It’ll also give the Chiefs’ front office an idea of how much cap space will be available.
Whatever he decides, Kelce has had an amazing NFL career so far. He’s a future Hall of Famer, a three-time Super Bowl champ, a ten-time Pro Bowler, and a four-time All-Pro. In 2024, he passed Tony Gonzalez as the Chiefs’ all-time leader in receiving yards and receiving touchdowns. Through 12 NFL seasons, Kelce’s caught 1,004 passes for 12,151 yards and 77 touchdowns.
If this is the end, Kelce’s mark on the NFL will be remembered forever as one of the greatest tight ends of all time.
