Kansas City tight end Travis Kelce confirmed recent reports that he’s returning to the Chiefs in 2025 for at least one more season.
“The biggest thing is that I love playing the game of football,” Kelce said on his weekly “New Heights” podcast.
“I still feel like I could play it at a high level and possibly at a higher level than I did last year. I don’t think it was my best outing. I let my guys down in a lot more moments than I helped them, especially if you look at my track record and how I’ve been in years past.”
During the 2024 season when Kansas City won the AFC Championship Game again but came up short against the Philadelphia Eagles at Super Bowl LIX, Kelce had 97 catches for 823 yards and a career-low three touchdowns in 16 regular-season games.
In three postseason contests, Kelce had 13 receptions on 18 targets for 175 yards and one TD. The Chiefs have made the playoffs in 10 consecutive campaigns.
“I want to give it a good run,” the 35-year-old University of Cincinnati product added on his podcast. “I’ve got a bad taste in my mouth on how I ended the year and how well I was playing and how accountable I was for the people around me. I love so many people in Kansas City, both in that facility and in the community. It’s home for me now. I don’t want to leave that life yet. I put in a lot of hard work, and I put in a lot of focus into being the best that I can for K.C. last year. It didn’t end well for us. I feel like there’s a responsibility in me to play out the contract that I initially signed to give Kansas City and the Chiefs organization everything that I got and that’s what I’m going to do.”
Although Kelce wouldn’t concede that 2025 will be his final season, it is the final year on his contract.
“I’m going to give [Kansas City and the Chiefs organization] everything I’ve got, baby,” Kelce said.
In 174 career regular-season games across 11 seasons, Kelce has 1,004 receptions for 12,151 yards and 77 TDs. He has played in 25 career postseason contests, catching 178 balls for 2,078 yards and 20 TDs.
Kelce’s career receiving yards ranks third among TEs in NFL history, behind only Tony Gonzalez (15,127) and Jason Witten (13,046). His 77 TDs catches rank fifth.