{"id":801670,"date":"2026-03-09T05:17:17","date_gmt":"2026-03-09T05:17:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/801670\/"},"modified":"2026-03-09T05:17:17","modified_gmt":"2026-03-09T05:17:17","slug":"travis-kelce-motivated-to-return-for-another-nfl-season-with-chiefs-in-mix-to-get-deal-done","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/801670\/","title":{"rendered":"Travis Kelce ‘motivated to return’ for another NFL season with Chiefs in mix to get deal done"},"content":{"rendered":"

Travis Kelce appears like he\u2019s going to give it one more go in the NFL.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The star tight end \u201cappears motivated\u201d to play a 14th season in the league, The Athletic\u2019s Dianna Russini reported<\/a> on Sunday afternoon, though it sounds like the door is open for that to be played somewhere other than Kansas City.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cBased on conversations with several teams, TE Travis Kelce appears motivated to return to play a 14th season,\u201d Russsini wrote on social media. \u201cThe Chiefs remain very much in the mix to re-sign the three-time Super Bowl champion and four-time All-Pro.\u201d<\/p>\n

The wording of the report suggests that other NFL teams could be in the mix should he decide to keep playing.\u00a0<\/p>\n

However, the Associated Press\u2019 Rob Maaddi reported conflicting information late Sunday night that pointed to Kelce only playing in Kansas City if he decides to suit up this year.<\/p>\n

\u201cA person with knowledge of Kelce\u2019s thinking told The Associated Press the four-time All-Pro tight end will not test the market. If the 36-year-old Kelce returns for a 14th season, it\u2019ll be in Kansas City with coach Andy Reid and quarterback Patrick Mahomes,\u201d he wrote on X.<\/a><\/p>\n

Kelce\u2019s contract with the Chiefs expired after last season and he is an unrestricted free agent in 2026.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"KansasKansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce walking off the field after the Chiefs beat the Giants. Charles Wenzelberg \/ New York Post<\/p>\n

He has played all 13 years in the league with the Chiefs and helped lead the franchise to three Super Bowl titles during his tenure there.\u00a0<\/p>\n

During an episode of the \u201cNew Heights\u201d podcast in January<\/a>, Kelce said that the Chiefs had been aware of \u201cwhere I stand\u201d on possible retirement.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve talked to a few people in the facility already, you know, having the exit meetings and they know where I stand at least right now,\u201d Kelce said during the Jan 7 episode that featured guest Matt Damon. \u201cThere\u2019s a lot of love for the game that\u2019s still there and I don\u2019t think I\u2019ll ever lose that. I don\u2019t know. It\u2019s a tough thing to navigate, but at the same time, I think if my body can heal up and rest up and I can feel content that I can go out there and give it another run, I think I would do it in a heartbeat. So I think right now it\u2019s just finding that answer \u2026 when it all settles down.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"TightTight end Travis Kelce running the ball while cornerback Cordale Flott attempts to tackle him. Bill Kostroun\/New York Post<\/p>\n

Kelce is coming off a year in which he had 76 catches for 851 yards and five touchdowns while the Chiefs missed the playoffs for just the second time in the tight end\u2019s 13 years in the league.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Kelce has become one of the biggest names in the NFL during his career, boosted by a standout effort on the field and the superstar status of his fianc\u00e9e<\/a>, global icon Taylor Swift. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Travis Kelce appears like he\u2019s going to give it one more go in the NFL.\u00a0 The star tight…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":801671,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2063],"tags":[346,7,118,110,2438,2437,6,89225,2592,9,500],"class_list":{"0":"post-801670","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-kansas-city-chiefs","8":"tag-chiefs","9":"tag-football","10":"tag-kansas-city","11":"tag-kansas-city-chiefs","12":"tag-kansascity","13":"tag-kansascitychiefs","14":"tag-nfl","15":"tag-nfl-free-agency-2026","16":"tag-nfl-free-agency","17":"tag-sports","18":"tag-travis-kelce"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/116197528115454513","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/801670","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=801670"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/801670\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/801671"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=801670"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=801670"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=801670"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}