Travis Kelce returned to the Kansas City Chiefs for the 2025 NFL season hoping to avenge his team’s Super Bowl 59 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles. Will he get a chance to do so?
The Chiefs find themselves in an unfamiliar position entering the 2025 NFL season’s stretch run. Kansas City enters Week 14 of the campaign on the outside looking in of the AFC playoff picture, and the team’s run of nine consecutive AFC West titles seems likely to end.
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The Chiefs still have plenty of time to battle for a wild-card spot in the wide-open conference, but there’s no guarantee Patrick Mahomes and Co. will be able to make it in.
And if they don’t, the spotlight will immediately shift to Kelce’s future with the team.
Kelce, 36, is the midst of his 13th NFL season, all with the Chiefs. The veteran remains productive – he is on pace for an eighth 1,000-yard season while averaging 12.2 yards per reception, a significant improvement over his career-worst 8.5 mark in 2024 – but it is well known he is in the twilight of his career.
Kelce has before discussed the possibility of retirement but hasn’t yet called it quits. At the same time, he hasn’t committed to playing beyond the 2025 NFL season, after which his two-year, $34.25 million contract will expire.
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Here’s a look at what Kelce has said about his future as the Chiefs battle to stay alive in the AFC playoff race.
Will Travis Kelce retire after 2025 NFL season?
Kelce has made it clear that he won’t make a decision about his future until after the 2025 NFL season ends.
That said, Kelce also provided reporters with a general timeline about when he would make a decision when asked about his future during a Nov. 21 news conference.
“Seeing my brother go through it and seeing – I don’t know, how the league works. The season kind of restarts in April. I want to give the Chiefs a good opportunity, whether I come back or not, and vice versa,” Kelce said. “It’s one of those things where I’d like to make that decision before they have draft picks and free agency opens and give them an opportunity to go out there and fill the roster appropriately.”
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“All of that will be after the season,” the 36-year-old tight end added. “I won’t be thinking about it until then.”
Kelce contemplated retirement during the 2025 NFL offseason before deciding to return to the Chiefs to play out the final year of his contract. He told reporters at Super Bowl 59 that while he wanted to keep playing long-term, he wasn’t exactly sure what his future would hold at the time.
“We’ll see what happens,” Kelce said. “I know I’ve been setting myself up for other opportunities in my life. That’s always been the goal knowing football only lasts for so long. You have to find a way to get into another career and another profession. I’ve been doing that in my offseason.”
Kelce seems poised for similar rumination during the 2026 offseason. He did note in his Nov. 21 availability the 2025 version of the Chiefs is “one of the most fun teams I’ve been on in a while,” so perhaps that will convince him to stay.
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Regardless of Kelce’s pending decision, the 36-year-old made it clear he won’t follow in the footsteps of Kobe Bryant and have a big-time retirement tour to close his career.
“I love Kobe. I love everything about him, man,” Kelce said. “But that’s not me. I like it to take it day-by-day, year-by-year and just evaluate it like that.”
Travis Kelce stats 2025
Kelce has enjoyed a quality season in 2025. Pro Football Focus grades him as the NFL’s 10th-best tight end among 74 qualifiers entering Week 14 while his 719 receiving yards are good for the second-most among tight ends behind only Trey McBride (879).
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Below is a full look at Kelce’s stats through the first 13 weeks of the season:
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Yards per reception: 12.2
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Will Travis Kelce retire after 2025 season? What Chiefs star has said
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