Everything Kansas City Chiefs TE Travis Kelce said about his decision to return for Year 14 on New Heights
Kansas City Chiefs TE Travis Kelce discussed his decision to return for Year 14 on the latest episode of New Heights.
Kansas City Chiefs TE Travis Kelce is officially back for Year 14.
After news broke early in the NFL’s two-day negotiating window that Kelce was expected to return to Kansas City on a one-year deal, both the Chiefs and Kelce have since confirmed that he’ll be back with the team for another season. Kelce appeared on the “Pat McAfee Show” on ESPN on Tuesday, getting an opportunity to discuss his decision to come back for another season.
He delved even further into the decision-making process with his brother, Jason Kelce, on the latest episode of their weekly “New Heights Show” podcast on Wednesday, March 11. Travis spoke on when he knew he was coming back, whether there were any outside influences to his decision, and his excitement to run it back with another chance to set things right after a disappointing 6-11 season in 2025.
When did Chiefs TE Travis Kelce know he was coming back for another season?
Travis already indicated that the retirement talk was overblown during his appearance on ESPN yesterday, but his conversation with Jason further proved he was never truly close to retirement.
“At what point did you know for sure you were coming back?” Jason asked.
“About midway through the season,” Travis joked.
“So, what were you waiting on?” Jason responded.
“You know, I think I was taking Jason Kelce’s advice,” Travis explained. “I was taking the advice. It’s take a step back, because you don’t you got to let the emotions clear, and you got to have a clear head. I’ve made decisions based off of emotions, and, you know, they haven’t always played out the right way. So I think taking a step back, letting the emotions settle down, the frustrations from the season. Of course, I want to come back. Of course, I don’t want to end my career not making the playoffs and not having one of the best years, and, you know, definitely having a down year and all that. So, I think taking a step back and like letting it kind of build. And, you know, what’s my desire? What’s my body feel like? How did I feel going into this year versus coming out of this year, and where my body was at and, you know, even letting it kind of settle, it still felt like I was hungry enough to get back at it. And obviously, there’s still a little bit of that, that grit and that emotion that, you know, I (expletive) hated the way that shit ended last year. And I want to do this. I want to, I want to make it right, you know, I get another chance in another (expletive) Super Bowl.”
On one hand, Kelce didn’t want to be influenced by how the season ended for Kansas City. He wanted other deeply personal factors to weigh more heavily in the decision. That said, it’s clear that he derives some level of motivation from how the 2025 NFL season ended.
Did Patrick Mahomes or any moves the Chiefs made influence Travis Kelce’s decision to return?
Another thing that didn’t influence Kelce’s decision to return to the NFL for a 14th season? Patrick Mahomes’ rehab and recovery, Andy Reid or Eric Bieniemy, or any of the moves that Brett Veach did or didn’t make. He says all that stuff is almost implicit, and that he knows everyone will be ready to put their best foot forward in the 2026 NFL season.
“No, I knew that Pat (Mahomes) was going to be Pat, and he’s gonna work his (expletive) tail off to get back and be at his best,” Travis said. “I knew that was a no-brainer. I knew Coach Reid was gonna make adjustments. I knew Veach is gonna do his best to get the best guys in here. We’ve got Eric Bieniemy, one of my favorite coaches of all (expletive) time, coming back into the building. But outside of I wanted to take a step back from all of that, because that adds to the emotion of wanting to play again. You list these pros and cons, and all of a sudden, we get all these good pieces. But where’s my body at, and where is my like, mental like, determination, my focus, my love for the game, all of that still there. So once I let that kind of settle, and the coaches and the Kansas City Chiefs knew all that going into the offseason.”
At the end of the day, it came down to Kelce’s undying love for the game of football. He’s got plenty waiting for him on the other side of his NFL career, but he’s simply not yet ready to leave it behind from a physical or mental standpoint.
Chiefs TE Travis Kelce is pumped for what’s to come in the future
Kelce was not joking when he told Pat McAfee that he needs to get back into the gym. The work for the 2026 NFL season truly starts now for Kelce as he gets his body right to withstand the rigors of a 17-game regular season and hopefully a 3-4 game postseason.
“Feeling good about the decision, or feeling excited, been texting with a few of the guys on the team, just, you know, ready to get this thing (expletive) going, man,” Travis told Jason. “It’s not just an in-season thing. It’s something that I truly believe you need an entire offseason to get the body, the mind ready for training camp alone, and then training camp, you start to get that wear and tear, and like, you kind of build your own armor of toughness to get you through the season. It’s a year long thing that that I’m excited to get going, and I’m excited to be around the guys when OTAs come around, and to start to really mold this team, man, get that get that mentality back to where it needs to be, that determination, that’s that, you know, expectations, that excellence every single day, and and doing it in our own way, where we show our personality, we get this thing (expletive) rolling.”
Really, what Kelce is most looking forward to is building things back up for the future alongside his guys, Patrick Mahomes, and Chris Jones. They weren’t happy with how things ended last season, nor with how things ended the season before that. However, this is a chance for them to start fresh, get back to their winning ways, and make sure that what happened in 2025 never happens again.
“Man, I’m just as excited to be joining forces with those two guys, man,” Travis said. “And I think we all kind of had talks at the end of the season. Like, I said, I was always pretty optimistic that I was coming back to a lot of people in the building knew that, but wanted to kind of give it some time and refocus it, and let the Chiefs make some moves and figure out a lot of things first, to make us an all-around better team. But then, you know, we kind of talked about some of these things as the season ended, like, ‘Man, how are we going to never let it get to this (expletive) point again?’ And I think we’re all three, especially us three, right there, being at the helm, and being here the longest and feeling like we have the most leadership and accountability on the team in that aspect. So, no doubt excited, excited to get back to the building with my guys and get this thing cooking.”