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By Cole Sullivan
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This week, Travis Kelce made the decision at age 36 to return to the NFL for a 14th season after contemplating retirement early in the offseason following the Kansas City Chiefs’ 6–11 finish and their first missed postseason in a decade.
Interestingly, Kelce was set to enter unrestricted free agency, which would have given other teams the opportunity to put offers on the table. However, the same day news broke of his return, he signed a deal with Kansas City to stay with the team.
On Tuesday, Kelce broke his silence during an appearance on "The Pat McAfee Show," explaining that the decision ultimately wasn’t very difficult. While he realized fairly early after the season that he wanted to return, he also acknowledged hearing the criticism about whether the Chiefs are still the team they once were.
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"We're seeing what the world's doing right now, we're seeing how everybody's reacting," Kelce said. "But we know we got the nucleus in Kansas City, we got some big hitters in Kansas City, we got Coach Reid, so we're never out of this thing. But we know the division is getting pretty competitive across the board and you know that's always going to make it for us to get better throughout the season.
"We hear it all, though. We hear it all."
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Chiefs have been very active early in the tampering period of free agency, which officially begins Wednesday, with their biggest move being the acquisition of Super Bowl MVP running back Kenneth Walker III. The addition fills one of the Chiefs’ biggest voids over the last handful of seasons as they’ve looked for consistent production from the running back position.
However, critics’ main concern about the Chiefs stems from the health of quarterback Patrick Mahomes, who sustained a torn ACL in Week 15 of the NFL season and whose status for the start of the 2026–27 season remains uncertain.
Yet Mahomes remains determined to be back early next season, and based on Kelce’s comments about his quarterback, head coach Andy Reid, and the return of offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy, he appears very optimistic that the Chiefs can get back to the Super Bowl.
More news: Travis Kelce Breaks Silence on Chiefs Return Amid Retirement Speculation
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