Travis Kelce has hinted that he could delay retirement for at least another season – but the legendary tight end will not make any decisions until the end of the 2025 campaign.
This was widely expected to be the 13th and final season for the 36-year-old tight end, who has won three Super Bowls with the Chiefs and become football’s biggest name.
Kelce, who announced his engagement to Taylor Swift back in August, is in the final year of his contract with Kansas City. But on Friday he left the door open to returning for 2026.
‘I want to give the Chiefs a good opportunity, whether I come back or not – or whether they want me back or not,’ Kelce said, adding that he plans to decide by early March – before the start of NFL free agency.
‘I’d like to make that decision before they’ve got to get draft picks and free agency opens to fill the roster appropriately.
‘All that will be at the end of the season. I won’t be thinking about it until then.’
Over recent months, Kelce had refused to discuss his future beyond the end of this season. On Friday, however, he teased the possibility of a 14th year in the NFL.
But the tight end insisted he has no interest in embarking on a farewell tour. ‘That’s not me,’ the 36-year-old said.
Kelce hinted that he could call time on his career earlier this year, in the wake of the Chiefs’ Super Bowl loss to the Philadelphia Eagles.
The 36-year-old admitted that the grind of life in the NFL had begun to drive him ‘crazy.’
Kelce faced accusations that he was a fading force, too, particularly in the wake of his disappointing Super Bowl performance in New Orleans. ‘I failed,’ the tight end admitted after a punishing season – his worst by many metrics.
Kelce also suggested he had become distracted by his off-field adventures and his plans for life after football. The 36-year-old has already taken his first steps into TV and film, appearing in the likes of ‘Grotesquerie’ and ‘Happy Gilmore 2.’
He hosts a hugely popular podcast, New Heights, with his brother Jason, while his relationship with Swift has catapulted him to superstardom.
But in late February, Kelce confirmed that he would return in 2025, insisting: ‘I still feel I can play at a high level and possibly at a higher level than I did last year.’
The Chiefs have struggled this season – Patrick Mahomes and Co are 5-5 – with their playoff hopes hanging in the balance.
But Kelce has shone. He recently broke Kansas City’s record for most career touchdowns and the 36-year-old currently leads the Chiefs in receptions (50), receiving yards (631) and touchdowns (4).
Only one NFL tight end – Trey McBride of the Cardinals – has amassed more yards than Kelce this season.
‘He’s done a heck of a job,’ head coach Andy Reid said ahead of Sunday’s clash with the Indianapolis Colts.
‘He worked like crazy in the offseason to get himself in tip-top shape, which you have to do when you start reaching an older age.
‘You’ve got to work a little bit extra, and he did that. It’s paying off for him.’
