Travis Kelce warned over ‘timeshare’ which may limit role in Kansas City Chiefs retirement tour

Travis Kelce is returning to the Kansas City Chiefs for the 2026 NFL season.

Having tied the knot with global music sensation Taylor Swift on the same weekend that the United States celebrated its 250th anniversary, Kelce is hoping to secure a second ring of the year with the Chiefs.

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The 36-year-old was the subject of a myriad of retirement rumors throughout the course of 2025 NFL season.

Reports also circulated suggesting that a career in TV was waiting for him should he have ultimately decided to hang up his cleats for good.

But the all-time great tight end announced his plans to return for more, and penned a one-year, $12 million deal to return to Kansas City, worth up to $15 million in incentives.

Therefore he will likely get one more run at winning a fourth Super Bowl ring with Patrick Mahomes and Andy Reid, and bowing out of a surefire Hall of Fame career in style.

However, his decline in production over the past few seasons has been sharp, and there is no overstating that.

Having recorded seven consecutive seasons of 1,000-plus yard seasons, in 2023, Kelce was just 16 yards shy of making that eight successive seasons.

In 2024 and 2025, though, he recorded just 823 and 851 receiving yards, respectively, scoring three touchdowns in each of those seasons.

With the 11-time Pro Bowler another year older, and Mahomes coming off a torn ACL and LCL injury suffered in Week 15 of the 2025 campaign -it won’t be easy to just turn back the clock.

While Mahomes has plans to return for Week 1 of the new season -the Chiefs may need to make another tight end on their roster the focal point of the offense going forward.

“Travis Kelce remains a productive tight end for the Chiefs, but he’s no longer the transcendent weapon he was in his prime.” Rucker Haringey of Fansided wrote. “That opens the door for another player at his position to emerge as a potential star in 2026.

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“Noah Gray could be the guy to turn the team’s tight end position into more of a timeshare. The former Duke standout lacks the ceiling that made Kelce so special, but he’s a big-bodied target that could appeal to Mahomes on intermediate throws,” he continued.

“If he can stretch the field more than Kelce, he might turn into an underrated contributor for Reid’s aerial attack.”

Gray ready to take a leap in 2026

Now 27, Gray was drafted out of Duke by the Chiefs in the fifth round – 162nd overall – of the 2021 NFL Draft.

Since arriving in the league, the 6-foot-3, 240-pound tight end has played second-fiddle to Kelce, but has shown glimpses of being a reliable option at tight end, albeit a TE2 and not a TE1.

In his five-year career in KC, he has amassed 1,255 receiving yards from 124 receptions, and has accrued 10 total touchdowns.

But having learned from one of the very best there is, Gray is more than primed to take that next step in his career, and perhaps emerge as the Chiefs’ leading option at tight end as they prepare for life without Kelce.

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“I’m just very fortunate and very glad that he is playing alongside me this season,” Gray said back in June. “There’s so much that he brings to the table.

“Leadership, work ethic, just certain fundamentals that we have on the field that he can help us [with] cause he’s been in this way longer than I have and most of those guys in the locker room.

“To be able to play alongside still is a blessing. It’s something I hope I never take for granted every day I step in this facility.”

Gray had a career-high year in 2024 in which he recorded 437 receiving yards and five scores, earning him a three-year, $18 million contract extension.

However, 2025 was disappointing for Gray – as well as the Chiefs – he notched just 178 yards and no touchdowns, but he is confident that he will bounce back in 2026.

“Whether that’s run blocking, which is a big part of what I do, pass blocking is a big part of what I do, route running, catching the football,” Gray said.

“I truly am someone who doesn’t believe that anyone’s perfect. But you can work every day to be the best possible version of yourself, and I think that’s something that our coaches preach to us, working hard and trying to be better than you were yesterday.

“I’ll retire from this league, and I’ll still have things to improve on. That’s just kind of the mindset I’ve had my entire life.

“You have guys on the other side of the football that are hungry; they want to sack the quarterback, so it’s something you have to have the mindset with every single year because you want to make the team better.”

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