General manager Brett Veach said Tuesday the Kansas City Chiefs are planning for Travis Kelce to play in 2025, adding the veteran tight end "has that fire and desire to play.''
"How we left at the end of the season is that he was fired up,'' Veach said at the scouting combine in Indianapolis. "I think we left it as he'd be back and were excited to get him back and get him going.''
Coach Andy Reid, also speaking at the combine, was less definitive about Kelce's future. Reid said he told Kelce after the Chiefs' Super Bowl LIX loss to the Philadelphia Eagles to get away and relax before making the decision on whether to play another season or retire from football.
"For right now, I think that's what he's doing,'' Reid said.
Kelce, 35, said in multiple interviews the week of the Super Bowl that he intended to play again in 2025. But he was less definitive about his future in the days after the game on his "New Heights" podcast.
"I know everybody wants to know whether I'm playing next year and right now, I'm just kicking everything down the road," Kelce said Feb. 12 on his podcast. "I'm kicking every can I can down the road. I'm not making any crazy decisions."
Kelce has an $11.5 million roster bonus on March 15 that would trigger in the final year of his contract. But Veach said there is no deadline for Kelce to make his decision.
Kelce was held to four catches for 39 yards in the Chiefs' 40-22 loss to the Eagles in Super Bowl LIX that denied Kansas City a chance at a three-peat. That ended a season in which he posted career lows (not counting his rookie season when he appeared in one game) in receiving yards (823) and touchdowns (3). He did lead the Chiefs in receptions, however, with 97.
