Retire or Return? Travis Kelce Sets a Timeline for his Football Future

The 36-year-old future Hall of Fame tight end is in the last year of his contract with the Kansas City Chiefs.

Travis Kelce of the Kansas City Chiefs looks on during warmups before the game against the Denver Broncos at Empower Field at Mile High in Denver, Colo., on Nov. 16, 2025. Photo by Jamie Schwaberow/Getty Images

It was 18 days after last season’s crushing Super Bowl loss to the Philadelphia Eagles that Kansas City Chiefs tight end, Travis Kelce, publicly stated that he’d return for the 2025 NFL season. Kelce didn’t want the embarrassing defeat to be his final game, and he later said he would be taking a year-by-year approach to continuing his NFL career going forward.

Most people assumed that this year—which is the last year of Kelce’s contract—would be the final season of his Hall of Fame-bound career. Perhaps in an effort to get ahead of any speculation that could overshadow the final stretch of the Chiefs’ season, Kelce decided to address any potential retirement or comeback plans on Friday. He set a rough timeline of when he’ll make his decision on his future, which would also help the Chiefs address any roster needs.

“The season kind of restarts in April, and I want to give the Chiefs a good opportunity, whether I come back or not, or vice versa, or whether they want me back or not,” Kelce told the media. “I’d like to make that decision before they’ve got to get draft picks and free agency opens. It gives them the opportunity to go out there and to fill the roster appropriately.”

“So, all that will be at the end of the season,” he said. “I won’t be thinking about it until then.”

Despite his highly public profile, both within NFL circles and outside of them, courtesy of his engagement to pop star Taylor Swift, Kelce doesn’t want a spotlight if he decides to play another season. A media member asked if he would like a farewell tour from opponents or fans if 2026 is his last year, and he simply responded, “That’s not me.”

Kelce has certainly displayed that he has plenty left in the tank if he wants to return for a 14th NFL season, during which he would turn 37 years old. After a couple of years of decreased production, the tight end is having his best season in years.

Through 10 games, he has 50 catches for 631 yards and four touchdowns. He’s on pace for nearly 1,100 receiving yards and 7 touchdowns, both of which would be his highest since the 2022 season. He’s also averaging 12.6 yards per reception which is his highest since he was a spry 31-year-old in 2020.

Only Trey McBride (718 yards) of the Arizona Cardinals has more receiving yards than Kelce has, among tight ends this season. At 36 years old, Kelce is the oldest player to catch a pass this season, and he was the NFL’s oldest tight end until the Denver Broncos signed 41-year-old Marcedes Lewis last month.

Kelce credited those around him for his increased production, as he’s been the one constant playmaker in Kansas City as injuries have limited running back Isiah Pacheco and wide receiver Xavier Worthy, while suspension did the same to wide receiver Rashee Rice.

“I think what you’re seeing is I’m a product of my environment right now,” Kelce said. “Everything is predicated off of how the offensive line does and how the guys around us do and, obviously, the chemistry me and [Patrick Mahomes] have been able to accumulate over the years.”

It was just this past Sunday versus the Broncos that Kelce scored his 84th career touchdown, which broke a tie with Priest Holmes for the most touchdowns in franchise history. He already holds the all-time Chiefs’ marks for receptions and receiving yards, but there are some other milestones and records on the horizon that could incentivize Kelce to return next season.

Kelce is 46 receptions away from becoming the seventh player in NFL history, and third tight end, to reach 1,100 career catches. He needs just 49 receptions to jump from his current position of 12th to the top five in the all-time receptions list.

He’s also 168 receiving yards and three touchdowns away in the postseason from surpassing Jerry Rice’s respective records in the playoffs. Kelce is already the postseason’s all-time leader in receptions, and he could own the postseason, receiving triple crown records if the Chiefs can make another deep playoff run or two.

Simply making the playoffs will be a battle for Kansas City this year despite reaching each of the last three Super Bowls and making seven straight AFC Title Games. The Chiefs enter Week 12 with a 5-5 record, and you have to go back to the 2012 season to find the last time the Chiefs had a worse record after 10 games (1-9).

That was before Kelce was even in the NFL, as he was a senior at Cincinnati, while Andy Reid was in his final year as the Philadelphia Eagles head coach and Mahomes was still in high school. Kansas City faces a difficult challenge to avoid falling below .500 on Sunday as it hosts the Indianapolis Colts, who boast an 8-2 record and have both the No. 1 scoring offense and the No. 1 total offense.