Travis Kelce was one of the candidates to win the Walter Payton Man of the Year Award at the NFL Honors, but it was not meant to be. For the third consecutive year, the award went to a defensive player, this time to Washington Commanders linebacker Bobby Wagner. There had been expectations that the Kansas City Chiefs tight end could cap off a difficult season with a major award.
Now that Kelce is not under contract with the Chiefs, and after finishing the season with 851 receiving yards, once again below the 1,000-yard mark, along with five touchdowns, it is worth examining what Sports Illustrated’s Logan Lazarczyk wrote on Feb. 3 about the potential end of the tight end’s career.
“Travis Kelce is considering retirement and is currently not under contract for next season. Most of the available tight ends on the open market consist of aging players. The only one under the age of 30 is Kyle Pitts, who is still only 26 years old.”
Kelce interested in returning to the Chiefs
It is worth noting that Kelce frequently speaks about the Chiefs, his teammates, and even himself through his podcast and other platforms. In this case, he made it clear that, if possible, he would return to play, provided his body can recover the way it once did.
“If my body can heal up and rest up and I can feel confident that I can go out there and give it another 18, 20, 21-week run … I think I would do it in a heartbeat,” Kelce said during an episode of his podcast with his brother on Jan. 7, 2026.
Kelce had also previously spoken about a possible retirement back in 2024 on the New Heights podcast, more subtly at the time. He referenced Aaron Donald’s retirement after a 10-year career and noted that he himself was entering his 12th NFL season.