Travis Kelce Retirement Move Comes With Controversial Chiefs Deadline

One of the big storylines for the Kansas City Chiefs heading into the Super Bowl was the future of tight end Travis Kelce. With the future Hall of Famer nearing the end of his career, some thought that if the Chiefs successfully claimed the three-peat, he would ride off into the sunset with Taylor Swift, and that would be that. But now that the Chiefs have lost, Kelce has stated he will take some time to decide what he wants to do in 2025.

However, the Chiefs aren’t waiting for No. 87 to make up his mind. According to The Athletic, the Chiefs have set March 14 as the date Kelce will inform them of his decision. That is a few days after the start of the new league year (March 12), and CBS Sports writes that the Chiefs might have set the March 14 deadline due to whether or not to pay Kelce his $11.5 roster bonus for 2025. Some think of all of this as being “controversial.”

But for all the love that exists here, there is also a football business to be run. The Chiefs are right in not wanting to be held hostage by Kelce, and he doesn’t strike us as that type of player, either.

But if he retires, the Chiefs will need to consider possible replacements either via free agency or the draft, and that isn’t a quick process. Related: Chiefs Have 1 Glaring Issue To Fix This Offseason In an ideal world, Travis would come back for one more year to try and get the Chiefs back to the top of the mountain, but there are doubts over whether he has the energy and desire to complete training camp, the film study, and play in 17 regular-season games. And he’s got until March 14 to figure out if he’s got the magic left in him.