Super Bowl: Travis Kelce doesn’t address potential retirement, but Patrick Mahomes thinks he ‘has a lot of football left’

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At some point, Travis Kelce is going to end his NFL career. We just don’t know if that time will be this offseason.

The Kansas City Chiefs tight end didn’t address his potential retirement with the media after Sunday’s lopsided loss to the Philadelphia Eagles in Super Bowl LIX, despite rampant speculation about his football future.

Kelce did not show up to the postgame interview room, but took a few questions in the locker room. None of them addressed his future, and he did not proactively offer any clues. He called Sunday’s performance the team’s worst of the season.

Kelce recorded four catches and 39 receiving yards on six targets in what was a brutal night for the Kansas City offense until about midway through the fourth quarter, when the result was firmly determined. That was still enough to make him the all-time leader in career Super Bowl receptions, passing Jerry Rice with 35.

One person who did address Kelce’s future was Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes, who said he was confident Kelce still had the ability to play at a high level”

“He knows he has a lot of football left in him. You can see it, he always makes plays in the biggest moments, but it’s if he wants to put in that grind. It’s a grind out there to play 20 games, or whatever it is, and get to a Super Bowl. He’s done enough to be a gold-jacket guy, a first-ballot Hall-of-Famer.

“I know he still has love for the game and he’ll get to spend some time with his family and make that decision on his own, but he knows he’ll come back here with open arms.”

At 35 years old, Kelce is a three-time Super Bowl champion, a 10-time Pro Bowler, a four-time first-team All-Pro and the all-time NFL leader in a number of tight end and postseason stats, including playoff receiving yards. As Mahomes indicated, he has very little left to prove at this point, and it will come down to how tempting it is to go for one more ring with the only NFL franchise he has ever played for.

He certainly seemed down as he walked out of the Superdome.

Kelce just finished the first year of a two-year contract with the Chiefs. If he comes back, he will carry a $19.8 million cap hit for the 2025 season.