Travis Kelce Listed As 'Wild Card' for Top NFL Broadcasting Job Post-Retirement

Kelce still has to make a decision about his 2026 season before figuring out what to do in retirement.

Travis Kelce’s name popped up in a list of potential future color commentators. | Denny Medley-Imagn Images

Travis Kelce still hasn’t made an official announcement about his plan for the 2026 season—will he retire, or will he sign up for a 14th season with the Chiefs?

Regardless, Kelce’s retirement will likely be within the next year or two. What will he do in retirement? Well, it sounds like he could be entertaining a common path for many ex-NFL players after they hang up the helmet—broadcast television.

The Athletic’s Andrew Marchand named Kelce in a list on Thursday of potential replacements for Kirk Herbstreit, who is the color commentator for Amazon Prime’s Thursday Night Football broadcast. Herbstreit’s current contract runs for one more year, so if the streaming service chooses to move on, Kelce could be one of their options.

However, Kelce is seen as a “wild card” because Prime will likely look at experienced commentators like Greg Olsen and J.J. Watt before a newbie.

It’s unknown if Kelce would even be interested in broadcast television, but his name continues to be brought up in early speculation about his potential future in media.

He seems to really enjoy doing his weekly podcast with his brother Jason Kelce, so maybe color commentary is something the younger Kelce brother would be interested in. Speaking of the elder Kelce brother, he transitioned into broadcasting immediately after retiring from the NFL. He works for ESPN on the Monday Night Countdown crew. If the Chiefs tight end decides to enter the industry, he can definitely get some pointers from his brother.

But, before we get ahead of ourselves, let’s wait to hear Kelce’s retirement decision.

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