Travis Kelce can kick the can down the road all he wants, but his retirement decision is coming for him sooner rather than later.
Retirement decisions are typically made before the new league year starts, which is March 12, and Kelce non-coincidentally has an $11.5 million roster bonus that is due to be paid out on March 14.
He is slated to make $19.5 million in 2025, the final season of his contract, according to Spotrac.
Knowing those March dates are looming, Kelce will need to decide if he’s more focused on football or his post-NFL life with billionaire music-mogul girlfriend Taylor Swift and surely plenty of media ventures.
Kelce previously said on his “New Heights Podcast” he was “kicking the can down the road” about whether he would actually retire after 12 season.
The three-time Super bowl champion’s most-recent remarks made it fair to wonder if he still has heart in it at this point.
“I think I’m going to 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 going to be something that … it’s a wholehearted decision, I’m not half-assing it, 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 as a person to take on all that responsibility.”
Engagement rumors have been swirling surrounding Kelce and Swift for the last several weeks, with the music mogul being seen wearing an infinity ring during the season.
Kelce could retire after his roster bonus date, although the Chiefs could ask him to return that money if he does retire.
The only precedent for a roster bonus not being paid back by a player who retired after the payment was made was former Colts quarterback Andrew Luck, who retired just before the 2019 season.
Indianapolis allowed Luck to keep that money as a goodwill gesture, although the Chiefs may not be willing to be that generous since it would likely carry some salary cap implications.
When Vontae Davis retired in the middle of a game as a member of the Buffalo Bills, Reuters reported that the Bills would pursue recouping his $1.5 million signing bonus.
Kelce received criticism at times during the Chiefs’ 2024-25 season for not playing up to his standards, and he posted back-to-back duds against the Bills and the Eagles in the playoffs.
He had zero catches in the first half of Super Bowl 2025 and caught four passes for 39 yards in the second half when the game was already completely out of reach, while looking dejected throughout a game that went sideways quickly.
ESPN analyst and former NFL player Booger McFarland said that Kelce, 35, was no longer the best tight end in the game after he played the “worst game” of his career against the Eagles.
Kelce’s older brother, Jason, retired semi-early at the age of 36 despite the Eagles hoping he would return to the team throughout the offseason.
