Tight end Travis Kelce waffled again when asked about his possible retirement after the Kansas City Chiefs’ 14-12 loss to the Las Vegas Raiders, which was somewhat surprising given how obvious it’s become that the Chiefs are facing something close to a complete rebuild.
“I mean, who knows? Who knows? Either it hits me quick, or I’ve got to take some time,” Kelce said in a quote attributed to Jesse Newell of The Athletic via Josh Alper of Pro Football Talk. “I think last year was a little bit easier. I think I knew right away I wanted to give this one a shot. So we’ll see.”
Kelce has a lot to think about. After the loss, he talked about his love for the team and said he will “spend some time with them, go through exit meetings tomorrow and get close to the family and figure things out,” according to Alper.
Two things became obvious down the stretch for Kansas City: (1) The team is facing something a lot closer to a full rebuild after losing six games in a row down the stretch (2) The 30-year old version of quarterback Patrick Mahomes will be less mobile coming off surgery for an ACL/LCL tear, regardless of how much of a superhuman effort he puts into his rebuild.
The Chiefs need a lot of help. The pass rush needs to be bolstered, and so does the offensive line. Kansas City may lose half its secondary with cornerback Jaylen Watson and Bryan Cook about to hit free agency. Kansas City has some draft capital to address a couple of the upcoming issues, and according to ESPN the Chiefs will have just under $60 million in cap space to use. Not every issue will be addressed, though, and some tough choices are coming.
Kelce will also need to think about his replacement. The Chiefs will almost certain draft a tight end given that he’s 36, so it’s fair to ask if he’ll want to be part of breaking the new guy in, which might make him something closer to a part-time player.
First and foremost, though, there’s the loyalty question. Mahomes and coach Andy Reid revamped the offense around Kelce, and that winning formula paid off for a long time. Will loyalty to his coach and quarterback convince the tight end to stick around now that a true transition year is here?
Finally, there’s the contract issue. Kelce is currently unsigned for 2026, and paying the tight what would amount to a career performance award may not be viable given the Chiefs cap situation. His status for next year is a complex equation with a lot of moving parts, and right now no one knows how it’s going to shake out.