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- Travis Kelce will return for his 14th NFL season with the Kansas City Chiefs.
- The 36-year-old tight end, who contemplated retirement, will take a pay cut.
- His return comes as the Chiefs recover from a disappointing 6-11 season.
Travis Kelce is on his way back to the NFL for a 14th season, and his destination will be a return to the Kansas City Chiefs, the only team for which he has played.
The Chiefs don’t have as much money to spend in free agency as many other teams, but Kelce, 36, turned down more lucrative offers to stay with the Chiefs. His one-year deal will be for $12 million, with incentives that could add another $3 million. Kelce, who has made about $112 million in salary, is coming off a two-year, $34.25-million contract extension.
The Chiefs have $23 million–$25 million in available salary cap space. The team created room after restructuring quarterback Patrick Mahomes’ contract, releasing veteran tackle Jawaan Taylor, and trading elite cornerback Trent McDuffie to the Rams.
Kelce, one of the most popular players in the NFL and a certain Hall of Famer, contemplated retirement after the 2025 season. The Chiefs cratered to a 6-11 record, losing their last six games and finishing a distant third in the AFC West behind the Denver Broncos and Chargers. They missed the playoffs for the first time since 2014.
Kelce admits to having lost a step, but he still finished with 76 receptions on 108 targets and 851 receiving yards. He was voted to the Pro Bowl for the 11th year in a row and moved up to eighth on the all-time receiving list. He has more career receptions (1,080) than any tight end besides Tony Gonzalez (1,325) and Jason Witten (1,228).
While basking in the adoration of Chiefs fans for perhaps the last time on Christmas Day, tight end Travis Kelce moved up to No. 9 on the all-time NFL receiving list.
His decision to return for one more season followed weeks of discussion with Chiefs coach Andy Reid, teammates, family and close confidantes — including his fiancé and music megastar Taylor Swift. Kelce co-hosts the popular “New Heights” podcast every Wednesday during the NFL season with his brother, former Philadelphia Eagles six-time All-Pro center Jason Kelce.
Kelce has been to five Super Bowls with the Chiefs and won three — in 2020, 2023 and 2024.
“I just love this team,” Kelce said in January after the Chiefs’ last game. “I’m proud of the way we finished this, even though it ended the way it did. The guys still showed up and gave it their all. That’s all you can ask for, man. I’ve got so much love for this team, this organization and the people here.”
A week earlier, he admitted retirement had crossed his mind after the Chiefs’ last home game.
“A whole lot of emotions,” he told reporters. “You’ve got everybody in the world watching you. You get to go out there with the young guys on prime-time television. Young guys getting an opportunity to taste what this NFL life is like.”
All-Pro cornerback Trent McDuffie, acquired by the Rams in a trade with the Kansas City Chiefs, agrees to a four-year contract worth $124 million
Yet he also savored the moment, and hinted that he might enjoy the adulation of Chiefs fans a bit longer.
“You only get a few of those where you get to stand there and appreciate 70,000 Chiefs fans cheering for you,” he said. “I always embrace that moment.
“You feel the generations of happiness and the love [the fans we] have. It’s a beautiful thing, man.”
