Travis Kelce given firm deadline to decide on potential retirement

The Kansas City Chiefs were blown out in the Super Bowl on Sunday night, ending their hopes at a historic third straight Super Bowl title.

The accomplishment has never been done before, and we’ll need to wait at least two more years before another team will even have the chance.

We won’t have to wait that long for Travis Kelce to decide on his future, as the Chiefs have reportedly set a date that they would like to hear his decision by.

According to Nate Taylor and Cale Clinton of The Athletic, the Chiefs “want to know of his decision around March 14,” giving Kelce about a month to decide whether to retire or play another season.

Kelce has one season left on his current contract, and his $11.5 million roster bonus for 2025 would be due on March 15.

Kelce addressed the decision on the post-Super Bowl episode of his “New Heights” podcast with older brother Jason, but stopped short of saying what he would do.

“I know everybody wants to know whether or not I‘m playing next year,” he began.

“Right now I am just kicking everything down the road. I am kicking every can I can down the road. I’m not making any crazy decisions, but right now, the biggest thing is just being there for my teammates and being there for my coaches, understanding that there’s a lot that goes into this thing.”

Kelce will turn 36 next season, and he recently finished the worst full statistical season of his career. He was ineffective in Sunday’s Super Bowl, but the same could be said for many other players on the Kansas City roster.

If Kelce calls it a career, he will be a first-ballot Hall of Famer in five years. The tight end has won three Super Bowls, has made seven All-Pro teams, 10 Pro Bowls and was named to the NFL’s All-Decade Team for the 2010s.

Kelce will also be regarded as one of the greatest players to play tight end, joining names like Antonio Gates, Tony Gonzalez and Shannon Sharpe – all of whom are or will be in Canton by the end of this year.

We’ll see what the future holds for Kelce, but if the Chiefs’ deadline is true, we won’t need to wait very long to find out.