Mahomes' injury, Kelce's uncertain future, and massive cap constraints loom as the Chiefs face a challenging offseason after their 2025 collapse.
The future of the Kansas City Chiefs is in question now more than at any time over the last decade. After 10 straight winning seasons, the Chiefs finished with just six wins in 2025, ending their reign on the AFC and football as a whole.
The sudden fall off brings in the need for a huge offseason in Kansas City. It’s a grueling wish, however, as they have -$43 million in cap space to work with this offseason. With key players hitting free agency, such as cornerback Jaylen Watson, the Chiefs may be left in 2026 with an even less competitive roster.
Because of this, it’s not exactly a surprise that the Chiefs have been ranked 24th in the league heading into Wild Card weekend on NFL.com.
Matters are only made worse by the uncertainty surrounding quarterback Patrick Mahomes’ status for the start of next season after suffering a torn ACL in Week 15. He’s expected to return under center for Kansas City in 2026, but how soon exactly is still unknown. There’s also the question of how long it will take him to return to his normal levels after rehabbing from such a serious injury. If anybody can bounce back as if nothing happened, however, it would be Mahomes.
More questions for the Chiefs this offseason are coming from star tight end Travis Kelce, whose future in football is still up in the air. On a recent New Heights podcast episode, Kelce said that he would return next season in a heartbeat if his body felt good enough, and that he needs to see how his body feels after the final game of the season.
Well, the final game of the season has now passed for Kelce and the Chiefs, and there hasn’t been any indication on whether he will return to Kansas City next season or will officially retire from football. It’s hard to imagine a Chiefs team without Kelce, who is now the franchise’s all-time leader in receptions, receiving yards, and receiving touchdowns. Fans will be eagerly waiting for a final verdict from their franchise legend.
Even with all of their troubles to face this offseason, a ranking of just 24th in the league for the Chiefs seems a bit extreme. Assuming Mahomes plays at least a majority of next season and the team is aggressive this offseason in keeping key players and bringing in new ones, it’s always a bad idea to count out head coach Andy Reid and the Chiefs.
After a decade of dominance in the AFC, the Chiefs will be hungry to bounce back after a poor 2025 season. It would be a surprise if they were again out of playoff conversations in 2026.