NFL;Chiefs veteran sends Travis Kelce a message that could easily affect his retirement decision
The Kansas City Chiefs have several questions to answer during the off
The Kansas City Chiefs have several questions to answer during the offseason and one of them is whether or not Travis Kelce is on the roster in 2025.
The future Hall of Famer is contemplating retirement after his 12th NFL season ended with a thud thanks to the Super Bowl LIX loss to the Phialdelphia Eagles. On Thursday, the Chiefs told Kelce they’d like an answer around March 14, the day before his $11.5 roster bonus kicks in.
In other words: The clock is ticking.
When it comes to his teammates, they obviously want him back and Chiefs defensive end Charles Omenihu made sure to send Kelce a clear message when asked to do so on FOX Sports’ The Facility.
“This would be my message to Trav: ‘Big dawg, like, we, the whole organization, can’t go out like that,’” said Omenihu. “… I think Trav has a lot left [and] I think Trav is an extreme competitor. I think he’s somebody that loves the game. I think in the storied career that he’s had, going out like that, in my opinion, wouldn’t be something that he would do. So I believe that he’ll be back. I believe that he’ll give you one more go…
“… [The Chiefs] aren’t going to overlook anything that may have been a reason why we didn’t come out on top. So it’s going to be a retool, refuel and get back to it, and we have Pat. So, you know for a fact you’re going to be in the dance.”
Omenihu’s point makes sense on all accounts. For starters, it definitely doesn’t seem like Kelce would be the type of guy to go out with a whimper and he certainly can still play.
It’s clear Father Time is catching up to the 10-time Pro Bowler after he recorded the lowest yardage and receiving touchdown totals of his career (he tore his ACL one game into his rookie year and didn’t catch a single pass), but even then he still finished 2024 with 97 catches for 823-yards and three touchdowns. He also caught nine passes for 136-yards and a touchdown in two playoff games before getting held to a 4/39/0 stat line against the Eagles.
And, of course, there’s Omenihu’s point about Patrick Mahomes. The Chiefs have been in the Super Bowl for five of the last six years. Any time he’s quarterbacking the game, they have a chance to win and get to the big dance.
“When it was 17-0, I was like, we’re still in it; 24-0, we’re still in it,” Omenihu said of the belief the Chiefs are never out of a game if Mahomes is the QB. “… That’s how I feel about Pat and I think that’s how everybody feels. And I think Trav feels that way. So I think he’s gonna have a lot of motivating factors as to why he wants to come back.”
There are plenty of reasons for Kelce to come back and honestly, there aren’t many that make a strong case for retirement. We’ll know soon enough if he feels the same way or not.
