Travis Kelce Is ‘Leaning’ One Way With His Retirement Decision

Will Travis Kelce return to the Kansas City Chiefs or retire from the NFL? That’s one of the biggest questions heading into the new league year.

Kelce had a relatively quiet 2024 season if you go by his standards. He hauled in 97 passes for 823 yards and three touchdowns. This is the first time in his Hall of Fame career that he had less than 850 receiving yards and four touchdowns in a season. Although he played well in the divisional round of the playoffs, he lad lackluster performances in the AFC Championship and Super Bowl.

Following the Chiefs’ blowout loss in Super Bowl 59, Kelce opened up about his NFL future during an episode of his “New Heights” podcast. He made it clear that he’s not ready to announce a final decision.

“I know everybody wants to know whether I am playing next year and right now I am just kicking everything down the road. I am kicking every can I can down the road,” Kelce said. “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.”

Kelce might not be ready to announce his plans for the 2025 season, but Dianna Russini of The Athletic did have an update to share with the NFL world this week.

During an appearance on “The Rich Eisen Show,” Russini said Kelce is leaning towards playing one more season.

“I can just tell you from having a few conversations with people around the league over the last few days there’s definitely a sense that Travis is going to try to play more,” Russini said, via the New York Post. “I haven’t heard anyone say, ‘Yeah, he’s really struggling with what he wants to do,’ it’s definitely leaning more toward that. That can, of course, change. This is going to be his decision, his decision only, but for this Chiefs’ operation looking to move forward here, I think they feel pretty good that Travis has got a little bit more left in him.”

For what it’s worth, former NFL Network reporter James Palmer said last week that he spoke to people inside Kansas City’s facility that are convinced Kelce will retire.

“I contacted a couple of people in the organization on Sunday morning. I was like, ‘What’s your gut?’ They were both like, ‘My gut tells me this is it.’ But he hasn’t said anything in either direction to anybody here,” Palmer said. “We know he loves coming to work and enjoys being here in the building.”

Suffice to say, only Kelce knows what’s next for his career.