Travis Kelce retirement rumors: Chiefs GM expects star TE back next season, says he's 'fired up' about playing
Travis Kelce may not be quite ready to call it a career just yet. Speaking to reporters at the NFL Scouting Combine, Kansas City Chiefs general manager Brett Veach said he expects Kelce to return for the 2025 season.
Based on his conversation with the star tight end at the end of the 2024 season, Veach relayed that he believes Kelce is "fired up" about playing in the final year of his current contract. While there have been some reports surrounding a possible deadline for Kelce to make his decision, Veach added that "as far as I'm concerned there is no deadline." Kelce is due an $11.5 million roster bonus on March 15.
"We left it as. He'd be back and we're excited to get him back and get him going," Veach said, via Front Office Sports.
As for Andy Reid, who also spoke to reporters Tuesday in Indianapolis, the Chiefs head coach was a bit more noncommittal about Kelce's status.
"That's up to Travis," Reid said. "[I told him] to get out of town and relax. That's kind of my motto for these guys. They played a lot of games for a consistent amount of seasons. At the end of the thing, you've exhausted yourself mentally and physically, step back and take care of that and then we'll talk. For right now, I think that's what he's doing."
So, while it may not be a concrete answer from the man himself, the initial signs from the Chiefs front office point to Kelce possibly coming back for another season, which would be the 13th of his career -- all with Kansas City.
While Kelce has remained a durable piece to the Chiefs offense, his production has slowed. His 823 yards receiving over the regular season were the lowest of his career outside of his rookie season where he played just one game. His three receiving touchdowns were also a career low outside of that rookie campaign.
In the playoffs, he added 13 receptions for 175 yards and a touchdown, but that largely came in Kansas City's divisional-round matchup against the Texans where he totaled seven catches for 117 yards and that lone score. In the AFC Championship and Super Bowl LIX, Kelce totaled six catches for 58 yards.
The 35-year-old has one year left on his current contract with a base salary of $4.5 million and a $19.8 million cap hit to go along with that roster bonus.
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