Travis Kelce put the retirement chatter right back on the shelf Friday. The 36-year-old tight end isn’t ready to commit to 2026, but he finally revealed when that decision will come. And for a team sitting at 5-5 and clawing to keep its playoff streak alive, the timing matters. With so much at stake, Kelce wants a fast resolution once the season ends, not a month-long guessing game that complicates roster building.
In the latest interview, the pro-TE cleared all rumors: “I want to give the Chiefs a good opportunity, whether I come back or not, or whether they want me back or not,” Kelce said via ESPN Nate Taylor “I’d like to make that decision before they’ve got to get draft picks and free agency opens to fill the roster appropriately… All that will be at the end of the season. I won’t be thinking about it until then.”
Travis Kelce says he wants to make a decision on coming back in 2026 before the beginning of the new league year in mid-March so the Chiefs have a good idea of his plans before free agency and the draft in April. pic.twitter.com/eNUYkipXSa
— Matt Derrick (@mattderrick) November 21, 2025
It is confirmed that the TE plans to decide on whether to return to KC by early March before free agency begins.
Travis Kelce’s Deadline Gives the Chiefs Clarity As He Weighs a 2026 Return
Travis Kelce
Nov 2, 2025; Orchard Park, New York, USA; Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce (87) walks the sideline before the game against the Buffalo Bills at Highmark Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Mark Konezny-Imagn Images
Kelce, who is in the final years of his contract, said kept it to the point. He’s not dragging this into spring. He’s not teasing a farewell tour. He’s treating this like business, and that fits how his year has gone. And as this season has shown, even at 36, he is the engine of an offense still searching for week-to-week consistency. According to all reports, he leads Kansas City in receptions, yards, and touchdowns, and he’s on pace for his first 1,000-yard season since 2022. That uptick didn’t happen by accident. Andy Reid toldESPN that he worked “like crazy” in the offseason to get back into elite shape.
Meanwhile, the team context matters just as much as the individual resurgence. The Chiefs have dropped five one-score games. The offense has finally started to resemble something more familiar, and Kelce has been central to that. His 21-yard score in Denver set the franchise record with touchdown number 84, passing Priest Holmes. But after the loss, he told reporters he “couldn’t care less” about the record and only wanted the win. Because of that, the organization respects his timeline so much.
Furthermore, Kelce watched his brother Jason navigate his own retirement last year. That experience clearly shaped him. He understands how early decisions ripple through a front office preparing for free agency in March and the draft soon after. So he’s giving Kansas City a clean window. Finish the season. Evaluate everything. Decide quickly.
Finally, if he does return, he made one thing loud and clear. He doesn’t want the Kobe Bryant-style goodbye. No city-to-city tributes. No long walk into the sunset. Just football, one year at a time, the way he has always approached it.