Travis Kelce still hasn’t announced whether he will play for the Kansas City Chiefs next season, but one insider believes it’s time for the franchise to part ways with the legendary tight end.
“I would move on from Travis Kelce and let me tell you why,” ESPN’s Mike Tannenbaum said in a Wednesday, February 18 appearance on SportsCenter. “When you’re in the front office, you have to project what a player is going to do, not what they’ve done.”
He continued, “I’ve made that mistake countless times in my career and Travis Kelce is a first ballot Hall of Famer. But when you watch him and make an honest and sober evaluation of his 2025 performance, clearly his best days are behind him.”
Kelce, 36, has played all 12 of his NFL seasons with the Chiefs, winning three Super Bowls and being named to 11 Pro Bowls along the way. His 2025 season was the third in a row in which he failed to accumulate 1,000 receiving yards and his 76 receptions were his fewest since 2015.
He still managed 11.2 yards per reception, his best mark since 2022 and played in all 17 Chiefs regular season games.
Kelce mulled retirement after last season, but decided to return after Kansas City’s blowout loss to the Philadelphia Eagles in the Super Bowl. This time, the Chiefs are coming off a shocking losing season and their quarterback, Patrick Mahomes, is recovering from ACL surgery.
“I’ve got so much love for this team, this organization and the people here, so I’ll spend some time with them, go through exit meetings tomorrow and get close to the family and figure things out,” Kelce told reporters after the Chiefs’ season finale against the Las Vegas Raiders in January.
Kelce has made his love for the game no secret, but whether he returns will depend on if he believes he can live up to his own high standards.
Travis Kelce doesn’t have an answer to the question on everyone’s mind — he’s just trying to process his emotions as the Kansas City Chiefs completed their 2025 home schedule with another tough loss. “A whole lot of emotions,” Kelce, 36, told reporters after the Chiefs’ 20-13 home loss to the Denver Broncos on Thursday, […]
“I think if my body can heal up and rest up and I can feel confident that I can go out there and give it another 18, 20, 21-week run, I think I would do it in a heartbeat,” he said on a January episode of his “New Heights” podcast, which he hosts with brother Jason Kelce. “I think right now it’s just finding that answer and seeing how the body feels after this game and when it all settles down.”
While Travis considers his future, a source exclusively told Us Weekly in January that he has options outside of football. The insider said that talks between Travis and Netflix are “well underway” for him to “serve as their exclusive broadcast sports correspondent.”
A second source exclusively told Us that Travis “has had talks with his team about retiring and not playing football next season.” Those talks have been centered around what his next career move would be if he does decide to hang up his cleats.
If Travis does decide to return, he has the support of the Chiefs’ front office. Team owner Clark Hunt told NFL Network’s Good Morning Football in January that “there’s no doubt in my mind that he can still play.”
“We’re trying to be respectful and let him have the time that he needs to make a decision,” he added.
