Travis Kelce is back for more. The Kansas City Chiefs star tight end is returning to the team for one more season at age 35. At this point in many players' careers, they tend to see their workload lessen. A player in his mid-30s is considered old in NFL years, with their bodies being pretty banged up. It wouldn't be surprising if Kelce's workload to decrease.
If that does happen next season, it won't be because of Kelce's own request. During the Chiefs' media availability, Travis Kelce made it known that he wants to have a similar workload from last season, per Devon Clements of Heavy.com. In fact, he welcomes the “wear and tear” he will receive.
“Wear and tear me, baby. I’m ready for it, man. Put the load on me,” Kelce said. “I love being accountable for these — the men and women in this building, Chiefs Kingdom. I love the aspect of ‘everybody count on me to try to make a play for the team.’ Just doing the right things out on the field and better judgment for the team. I don’t think anything from last year put more miles on me, made me less of a player, I think it was all-in-all just focus, being my own worst critic, [and] capitalizing on situations that I should have.”
How does Chiefs head coach Andy Reid feels about this? Well, Reid gave a cheeky remark about Kelce's request.
“I don’t know if we’re going to back off on his time. If he wants to be worn out, we can help him with that.”
Kelce, Chiefs' future outlook
Kelce has been a cornerstone of the Chiefs offense ever since he was drafted by the team in 2013. He's always been one of the best tight ends in the league. His route-running and ability to read defenses means that he somehow finds himself open in key situations. As he's aged, though, Kelce slowly started to build a case as one of the best tight ends of all-time.
With Patrick Mahomes coming over in 2017, the Chiefs have had the best QB-TE duo since Brady-Gronkowski. The two have been in sync at all times, it seems. Kelce has earned multiple All-Pro and Pro Bowl honors. In the last half-decade, Kelce has also collected three Super Bowl rings, including back-to-back wins in 2022 and 2023. It's clear that the tight end is still playing pretty well.
That being said, the question of Kelce's retirement will continue to linger until he actually hangs it up for good. His older brother, Jason, retired at 37 years old this offseason. And while tight end is not as physically demanding as center, there's still a lot of wear and tear on Kelce's body. He's been the number one or number two guy for the Chiefs in the last few years, so there's that.
It does seem like Kelce can still go for a few more years, which is good. Kelce missed a couple of games due to injury in the 2023 regular season. As a result, he tallied his lowest yardage since 2015 with 984. Still, there's enough reason to believe that the Chiefs star can still play. We'll see just how good he'll be as Kansas City guns for that elusive three-peat.
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