KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Travis Kelce said the decision to return for his 13th season with the Kansas City Chiefs wasn’t much of a decision at all.
In fact, the four-time All-Pro tight end indicated Wednesday that No. 14 isn’t out of the question.
“I got one year on this contract, I know that. And we’ll try to figure out something for next year,” Kelce said after the second day of the Chiefs’ mandatory three-day minicamp, which was moved partially indoors because of lightning in the area.
“The Chiefs organization knows how much I love them. I can’t see myself playing anywhere else,” Kelce continued. “We’ll deal with (2026) down the road, when the time is right. But right now, I’m focused on winning a championship this year.”
The question of whether the 35-year-old would hang up his cleats was among the biggest to follow the Chiefs’ lopsided loss to the Eagles in the Super Bowl. While he still played at a high level last season, Kelce saw his production dip noticeably — 97 catches for 823 yards and just three touchdowns for a team that won 15 regular-season games.
Throw in Kelce’s myriad of business interests, including a successful media career thanks in part to his popular podcast, and his relationship with pop superstar Taylor Swift, and it made sense to wonder how much longer he would play.
Yet it took only a matter of weeks for Kelce to decide to chase another championship.
Part of it was the way last season’s run had ended. Kelce had a throwback game in the divisional round against Houston with seven catches for 117 yards, but he had only four for 39 in the 40-22 loss to the Eagles in the Super Bowl.
“Really didn’t feel like it was my last game. Just felt like I had a lot more to prove,” he said. “Yeah, you want to let the emotions die down; you don’t want to make a decision off initial emotions. Once they died down, I felt like I still had that fire in my chest to come in and keep building and chase another Super Bowl, man.”
The Chiefs made it to the Super Bowl despite playing most of the season without their top two wide receivers, Rashee Rice and Marquise Brown, both of whom are fully healthy now after their injuries. They also made it despite massive issues at left tackle, which the Chiefs hope to have solved by drafting Ohio State standout Josh Simmons in the first round.
Now, they have a motivated — and noticeably slimmer — Kelce back at tight end. There were reports that he had dropped about 25 pounds since the end of last season, though Kelce insisted that may have been an exaggeration.
“Don’t believe all you read on the internet, guys. I’m down some weight from the end of last season — last year — but each year is different, man. You have to rebuild it,” he said. “This year, I had some time to really focus on some form running and some things early in the offseason that I didn’t have time for last year. Certainly feeling good and I think it’ll pay off.”
Patrick Mahomes certainly hopes so. After leading one of the NFL’s most productive offences early in his career, Mahomes has struggled to get the Chiefs on track the past couple of seasons, largely because of injuries and offensive line trouble.
Still, the Chiefs’ star quarterback said he never put any pressure on Kelce to return for another season.
“I think you have in the back of your mind, for anybody that’s played a lot of seasons, there’s always the chance if they’re going to come back and put in the work,” Mahomes said. “For him, I think it was just recalibrating, seeing where he was at, and from what I’ve seen, he’s ready to go. He’s put in the work this offseason and he’s excited to make another run at it.”
The Chiefs wrap up their three-day minicamp on Thursday, then break for about a month, before reuniting at Missouri Western State University for training camp. And while the thought of spending a few weeks living in college dorm rooms probably doesn’t sound very enticing to Kelce, the prospect of starting another championship run there clearly drives him.
“I love this game. It’s still my childhood dream,” Kelce said. “When I really thought about it this offseason, I got back to wanting to focus on this game and getting the most out of this game as I can, while I’m still putting on the cleats and pads. This will always be No. 1 in terms of my business world and career path.”
