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.’
Chiefs star Travis Kelce has hinted that he could delay retirement for at least another season
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 also faced accusations that he was a fading force – particularly in the wake of his disappointing Super Bowl performance in New Orleans.
But Kelce soon confirmed 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.’
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