![\"Travis](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/GettyImages-2254645461-e1767599280366.jpg\")
\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tHeavy\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
Chiefs star Travis Kelce contemplates his future in the NFL after losing to the Raiders on January 4, 2026.<\/p>\n
In case you have been living under a rock, tight end Travis Kelce will be returning to the Kansas City Chiefs<\/a> in 2026 for a 14th NFL season.<\/p>\n Kelce signed a three-year, $57.7 million contract extension in March, however it is actually structured more as a one-year deal<\/a>, as it will be renegotiated if he decides to return again in 2027.<\/p>\n The Chiefs now don\u2019t have to worry about adding a starting tight end to their list of roster needs<\/a>, although they could look to acquire a developmental one to learn under Kelce. Although he is a bit past his prime, Kelce is still better than most. His value to the Chiefs also goes well beyond producing on the field.<\/p>\n Kansas City Chiefs GM Brett Veach Describes Travis Kelce\u2019s Value off the Field<\/p>\n Veach had a lengthy conversation<\/a> with NFL insider Peter Schrager on Tuesday. Kelce\u2019s return was among the topics they discussed, as Veach explained what Kelce means to the organization beyond just putting up statistics and wins.<\/p>\n \u201cHe puts a smile on someone\u2019s face every single day,\u201d Veach said of Kelce. \u201cIt doesn\u2019t matter if you win a game by three touchdowns, or if you lose a game. You have to come back in and learn from the mistakes. Everything he does, he does with a smile. It\u2019s easy to lose sight of that and get into this head space where it\u2019s always negative all the time. He just keeps a positive spin and uplifting spin on everything he does. That\u2019s one of the [reasons] I\u2019m glad he\u2019s not retiring. When he does, that\u2019s going to be almost impossible to replace.\u201d<\/p>\n Kelce has come a long way from when he entered the league as a rookie with a chip on his shoulder in 2013. His maturing has not only helped him become one of the greatest tight ends<\/a> in NFL history, but play a huge role in the Chiefs becoming a dynasty with three Super Bowl wins.<\/p>\n Brett Veach Explains How Travis Kelce\u2019s Tenure With Chiefs Has Come Full Circle GettyChiefs TE Travis Kelce and RB Kareem Hunt<\/p>\n Veach went on to talk about how much Kelce has evolved from when he first met him as a young player.<\/p>\n \u201cTravis Kelce was a character concern coming out,\u201d Veach said about when he was scouting Kelce. \u201cBut the culture and the support you have in the building does make a difference. If you put guys that are young and have maybe made some dumb decisions, if you put them in an adult environment with a good culture, you can get the best out of them. Now it\u2019s gone full circle with Travis where he\u2019s teaching us more than we\u2019ve ever taught him. Here you have a guy who starts out as a character concern, you bring him into the organization, and he has a first-ballot Hall of Fame career. He\u2019s now teaching us on how to handle adversity and how to be uplifting. I think that\u2019s the coolest thing.\u201d<\/p>\n Guys like Veach, coach Andy Reid, offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy, and others can be attributed with keeping Kelce on the right track. Over the last several years, Kelce has become a leader who is helping young players that need direction. The Chiefs will be leaning heavily on him again in 2026 as they look to reestablish themselves as a dominant team.<\/p>\n \n\t\t\tNick Roesch<\/a> Nick Roesch covers the NFL for Heavy Sports, with a focus on the Kansas City Chiefs, Green Bay Packers, and Los Angeles Chargers. He previously covered the Chiefs for USA TODAY Sports’ Chiefs Wire, and all 32 NFL teams for A to Z Sports. Roesch’s career in sports media spans 10 years. More about Nick Roesch<\/a>\t\t<\/p>\n \n\t\t\tMore Heavy on Chiefs\n\t\t<\/p>\n \n\t\t\t\tLoading more stories\n\t\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Heavy Chiefs star Travis Kelce contemplates his future in the NFL after losing to the Raiders on January…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":846792,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[2063],"tags":[346,7,118,110,2438,2437,6],"class_list":{"0":"post-846791","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"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/116328814728256636","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/846791","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=846791"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/846791\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/846792"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=846791"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=846791"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=846791"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"Kareem](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/GettyImages-2243709642-e1761654215354.jpg\")
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