Chiefs GM Brett Veach shares major update on Travis Kelce, looming decision on retirement

Throughout his career, Travis Kelce has become known as one of the NFL’s greatest tight ends. Now, as a decision on whether or not he wants to hang up his cleats, Kansas City Chiefs GM Brett Veach shared a major update on his retirement decision.

NFL insider Ian Rapoport reported that Veach says that Kelce is “fired up” about entering the final year of his contract and playing. That would mean that he is set to return to Kansas City for the 2025 regular season.

“We left it as, he’d be back and we’re excited to get him back and get him going,” Veach said.

This comes after the questions about Kelce and his future have been mounting. It’s also on the heels of head coach Andy Reid admitting that he didn’t know what the future would hold for Kelce and he, like all other players, was told to take some time off after the season came to an end.

“Chiefs HC Andy Reid said he told Travis Kelce – like he did to others on the team – to get out of town and relax,” NFL Network’s Omar Ruiz wrote on Twitter. “Reid said the decision to return will be Kelce’s, and does not know what his star TE will do yet.”

Kansas City had reportedly given Travis Kelce a deadline for making his decision. After all, they’d need to begin to find a way to replace him if he were to decide to move on from his playing career and forgo the final season of his contract. On top of that, he has openly discussed that he needs time to decide what to do with his future.

“I’m gonna take some time to figure it out,” Kelce said on the New Heights podcast. “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.”

All of this comes at the end of Kansas City’s third-straight trip to the Super Bowl, and their fifth trip in six seasons. However, this time the Chiefs lost to the Philadelphia Eagles. At the same time, Kelce has grown as a celebrity off the field, in large part because of his much-publicized relationship with Taylor Swift.

Travis Kelce is regarded as one of the best tight ends of all time for his massive production in the passing game. He ranks third in NFL history in career receptions (1,004) and receiving yards (12,151) and is fifth all-time with 77 career receiving touchdowns. However, his recent numbers have slipped as Kelce ages in a physically challenging sport.

Travis Kelce has one year remaining on his contract. That includes a base salary of $4.5 million and a cap hit of $19.8 million.