The Fate of Travis Kelce? Chiefs TE to wait on '26

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Chiefs star tight end Travis Kelce has left the door open for a return next season — and not having this year be the last in his illustrious career.

As a 13-year veteran, Kelce understands how difficult it was for his brother, former Philadelphia Eagles center Jason Kelce, to retire after the 2023 season. Although he is in the final year of his contract, Travis Kelce shared Friday that he plans to decide on whether to return to the Chiefs by early March, before NFL free agency begins.

“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. “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.”

Since June, Kelce, 36, had spoken about his future through only this season. If Kelce does return for his 14th season, he emphasized that he doesn’t want fans, teams or players to give him a farewell tour.

“That’s not me,” Kelce said.

One major reason Kelce might re-sign with the Chiefs in the offseason is because this season he has proved to still be one of the NFL’s most productive tight ends.

Kelce is on pace for an eighth season with 1,000 receiving yards and his first since 2022. Although the Chiefs have a full collection of receivers — Rashee Rice, Xavier Worthy, Hollywood Brown and Tyquan Thornton — Kelce still leads the team in targets (66), receptions (50), yards (631), touchdowns (4) and receiving first downs (33). The Arizona Cardinals‘ Trey McBride (718) is the only tight end with more yards than Kelce.

Kelce praised the Chiefs’ receivers for assisting him in his success.

“I think what you’re seeing is I’m a product of my environment right now,” Kelce said, smiling. “Everything is predicated off of how the offensive line does and how the guys around us do and, obviously, the chemistry me and [Patrick Mahomes] have been able to accumulate over the years.”

This past offseason, Kelce did what he did when he was a younger player: He trained in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, with Tony Villani to recapture some of the speed, agility and quickness he felt he had lost over the past two seasons. The noticeable improvement in athleticism has allowed Kelce to regain a trait that made him one of the league’s greatest pass catchers: He has punished opposing defenses with 339 yards after the catch, third most among tight ends.

“He’s done a heck of a job,” coach Andy Reid said. “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.”

Kelce said the offseason work “definitely helped me to at least get a head start on some of the wear and tear” of a season. In last week’s loss to the Denver Broncos, he broke the Chiefs’ record for most career touchdowns.

Even though the Chiefs are averaging more points this year (25.4) than last year (22.6), they enter Sunday’s game against the Indianapolis Colts with a 5-5 record. All five of the Chiefs’ losses have been by seven or fewer points.

Kelce is confident the Chiefs, who are sitting outside the AFC playoff picture, can improve their performance in the final stretch, especially in the fourth quarter of games, to clinch a playoff spot.

“I just think the chemistry, how together we are and how much we’re willing to fight for each other, it’s not a matter of effort,” Kelce said. “It’s all just execution. We’re in here every single day grinding our tails off trying to get that fixed. You feel it from the coaches. They’re tightening things up a little bit so that we focus on those details so that we can play fast and play with a purpose.”