Chiefs give Travis Kelce deadline on decision to retire.
Travis Kelce nearly admitted this week that he’s contemplating retirement after 12 NFL seasons, a notion that has the Kansas City Chiefs eager for a swift decision.
After playing in his third consecutive Super Bowl and with little left to accomplish in his Hall of Fame-bound career at 35, star tight end Travis Kelce now faces a soft retirement deadline of “around March 14” from the Chiefs, according to The Athletic.
The deadline makes sense—free agency starts two days earlier and his $11.5 million roster bonus is due the following day—with NFL.com reporting on Super Bowl eve that Kelce was expected to weigh his future before free agency, though on his “New Heights” podcast he admitted he’s been “kicking every can down the road.”
“I am not making any crazy decisions, but right now the biggest thing is just being there for my teammates and being there for my coaches, understanding there’s a lot that goes into this thing. I’ve been fortunate over the past five, six years, I’ve played more football than anybody,” Kelce said. “The fact that we keep going to these AFC Championships and Super Bowls, that means I’m playing an extra three games more than everybody else in the entire league. That’s a lot of wear and tear on your body.”
“It’s a lot of time in the building. … That process can be grueling. It can weigh on you. It can make you better, and it can drive you crazy,” he added. “Right now, it was one of those things where it was driving me crazy this year. It happens as you tail off toward the back nine of your career.”
Over the past eight seasons with the Chiefs, Kelce has added 25 playoff games to his 175 regular-season contests—almost a season and a half extra—and despite viral clips of his seeming Super Bowl lethargy, he ranks among NFL history’s top tight ends with 1,004 catches, 12,151 yards, and 77 touchdowns, even though 11 tight ends (including Tony Gonzalez, who played 270 games, 95 more than Kelce) have appeared in more games.
Despite a storied career with 10 Pro Bowls and seven All-Pro honors, this season marked the first time since 2015 that Kelce played 16-plus games without reaching 1,000 receiving yards and scored just three touchdowns—the lowest mark of his career outside his one-game rookie season—highlighting that he’s no longer his All-Pro self, and if Super Bowl LIX turns out to be his final appearance, it will undoubtedly signal the end of a legendary era.
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