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Travis Kelce Tells Pat McAfee He’s Returning in 2025, With Big Offseason Goal Set

Tim Capurso

Kelce on the field during Super Bowl LIX.
Kelce on the field during Super Bowl LIX. / Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images
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He's back.

Just days after Kansas City Chiefs general manager Brett Veach strongly indicated that star tight end Travis Kelce, who was mulling a potential retirement from the NFL, would be returning for another season, Kelce himself, with the help of ESPN's Pat McAfee, confirmed his decision.

McAfee, during an episode of his show on Thursday from the NFL Scouting Combine in Indianapolis, revealed that, he texted Kelce in an effort to get official word straight from the source. And boy did he ever.

Here's what Kelce texted to McAfee.

"My dog!!! I'm coming back for sure," Kelce wrote. "Gonna try and get to the best shape I've been this offseason and get back to the mountaintop. Got a real bad taste in my mouth with how I played in that last game and how I got the guys ready for battle. I can't go out like that!!!!"

Kelce, 35, said on an episode of the New Heights podcast after the Super Bowl that he would "take some time" to figure out his future. Many, including some within the Chiefs organization, felt Kelce was leaning towards stepping away from the game.

Considering the start of the new league year on March 12 and the $11.5 million roster bonus Kelce is due to be paid by March 15, the Chiefs reportedly set a deadline of March 14 for the star tight end to make his decision.

But Veach, who spoke to reporters from the scouting combine on Tuesday, seemed to let the cat out of the bag when he said that he was operating under the presumption that Kelce was "fired up" and had the desire to play out the last year of his contract in 2025.

Kelce, who had just four receptions for 39 receiving yards in the Chiefs' 40-22 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles in Super Bowl LIX, a game in which he was also dealing with an illness, clearly didn't want the moments in a disappointing loss to be his last as a player in the NFL. And the 10-time Pro Bowl selection seems as motivated as ever to get his body ready to play in '25.

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Tim Capurso
TIM CAPURSO

Tim Capurso is a staff writer on the Breaking and Trending News team at Sports Illustrated. Prior to joining SI in November 2023, he wrote for RotoBaller and ClutchPoints, where he was the lead editor for MLB, college football and NFL coverage. A lifelong Yankees and Giants fan, Capurso grew up just outside New York City and now lives near Philadelphia. When he's not writing, he enjoys reading, exercising and spending time with his family, including his three-legged cat Willow, who, unfortunately, is an Eagles fan.

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