The single biggest question facing the Kansas City Chiefs this offseason is undoubtedly what will happen with Travis Kelce. Will he return or will he retire? While there are myriad other concerns, including how the team will remake the offensive line and/or how they will rebound from a devastating loss in Super Bowl 59, the central concern will still be about whether or not the team has to move on from their offensive pillar this spring.
For now, all Chiefs Kingdom can do—including those employed inside of Arrowhead—is to watch and wait. Perhaps general manager Brett Veach can make contingency plans, but nothing will be certain until Kelce says one way or another what he will do.
Following a lengthy career with unprecedented impact at the tight end position, there's no denying that Kelce's post-football future is cemented with a first-ballot induction vote into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio. There's also no denying that he's at the tail end of his incredible career—that if he does return it would most likely only be for a single season.
Travis Kelce says it's the level of motivation that will be the deciding factor for his potential return or retirement.
But the Chiefs offense has been centered on Kelce as the primary pass-catcher for over a decade and Patrick Mahomes' best friend and most trusted target might be fading into a post-football life. That's a significant adjustment for all parties involved, even as his skill set has declined in the last year.
To be fair to Kelce, he still had a whopping 97 catches in 2024—a "down" year—for 823 yards and 3 touchdowns. He also torched the Houston Texans in the Divisional Round to prove he can still rise up and carry the offense when called upon. Whether or not something is left in the tank is not the concern.
What Kelce does say is his concern is his "motivation," and he opened up about all of this and more on the latest episode of his uber-popular New Heights podcast with his brother, Jason Kelce.
""I’m gonna take some time to figure it out. And I think I owe it to my teammates that if I do come back that it’s gonna be a wholehearted decision and I’m not half-assing it, and I’m fully here for them. I think I can play, it’s just whether or not I’m motivated or it’s the best decision for me as a man, as a human, as a person to take on all that responsibility," said Kelce.
Most players would likely be given a firm date by the team to provide some concrete answers for the sake of offseason roster planning. Howerver, given his standing with the team, when Kelce says he's "going to take some time", we've got to assume that Andy Reid and company are simply going to play things patiently and plan as well as they can in the face of uncertainty.