Travis Kelce has unfinished business.
The Kansas City tight end confirmed he’d return for a 13th NFL season on Thursday through a New Heights podcast social media post, which stated, “ITS TIME FOR YEAR 13.”
NFL Network Insider Ian Rapoport originally reported on Tuesday that Kelce was expected to come back and continue a career that will someday go down as one of the greatest ever at the position.
Also on Tuesday at the NFL Scouting Combine, Chiefs general manager Brett Veach said Kelce is “fired up” about returning.
“We left it as, he’d be back and we’re excited to get him back and get him going,” Veach told reporters.
Chiefs head coach Andy Reid likewise expressed confidence in a Kelce return during a Tuesday inteview with NFL Senior National Columnist Judy Battista.
“I think it will all work out. But I’m big on that, I’m big on stepping away,” Reid said. “I mean, Trav is positive. There’s no negative to it. But step back and get yourself away from it. … You just think clearer. We obviously hope he’s coming back. He’s been positive in that direction. We’ll cross all that here next week or so.”
Retirement winds swirled around Kelce ahead of Super Bowl LIX as they had during Kansas City’s previous two trips to the big game.
Rapoport reported on Feb. 8 that although Kelce spoke about playing for years to come during Super Bowl week, he remained undecided about his future beyond the 2024 season.
Kelce then said on his New Heights podcast following Super Bowl LIX that he would “take some time” to figure out if he would retire or return for another season.
Not content to have his final game be a 40-22 decimation by the Eagles that shattered the Chiefs’ three-peat dreams, Kelce is expected to keep playing to try to help Kansas City return to the mountaintop.
He is set to enter his 13th season third all time in tight end receptions (1,004) and receiving yards (12,151) and fifth in touchdowns (77), with 10 Pro Bowls, four All-Pro nominations and three Super Bowl rings.
His postseason numbers are more historic still, as he sits atop the postseason rankings for any position with 178 receptions, second in receiving yards (2,078) and second in receiving TDs (20). During the Chiefs’ most recent playoff run, he surpassed Pro Football Hall of Famer Jerry Rice for an NFL-record ninth 100-yard postseason receiving game and the most career Super Bowl receptions (35).
But for all his heroics and gaudy numbers over the past dozen years, Kelce unmistakably took a step back during the most recent campaign.
His age-35 season produced respectable numbers for most tight ends — 97 receptions for 823 yards and three touchdowns — but his yardage and TD numbers represented career lows outside his one-game rookie season. Although he remained quarterback Patrick Mahomes’ favorite target on crucial downs, a safety blanket to put others to shame, he struggled to create separation or extend plays after making the catch. That was evident in his 8.5 yards per reception, which was 2.1 yards below his previous low-water mark and 3.6 shy of his career average.
And unlike the 2023 campaign, in which a late-season lull seemed more measured to keep the tread on the tires for another playoff explosion, Kelce failed to kick it into high gear in the most pivotal games of the recent postseason.
He did post 117 yards and a TD on seven catches in the Divisional Round against the Houston Texans, but Kelce followed it up with just two catches and 19 yards in the AFC Championship Game win over the Bills and 39 yards on four catches against Philadelphia, all of which came with the game having long slipped away in the Super Bowl’s second half.
Nonetheless, Kelce’s return is a godsend for the Chiefs, who will once again benefit from his swagger, leadership and uncanny connection with Mahomes.
Even without the knowledge of how Kansas City fares in free agency and the upcoming NFL draft, there’s firepower returning to help around the All-Pro tight end. Rashee Rice was enjoying a spectacular breakout before his season-ending knee injury, and Xavier Worthy, who had eight catches for 157 yards and two scores in the Super Bowl, came into his own from mid-December on. Fellow tight end Noah Gray showed a nose for the end zone to nab five TD catches, and running back Isiah Pacheco should look far more himself with a full offseason between him and his Week 2 broken fibula.
Changes are still certain for the Chiefs, who are in unfamiliar territory having failed to capture the Lombardi Trophy after winning two straight, but Kelce luckily won’t be one of them.
