On Tuesday, at the NFL Scouting Combine, GM Brett Veach gave Chiefs’ fans a spark of hope, “How we left it at the end of the season is that he was fired up.” Despite the fact that he had one more year left on his contract, uncertainty prevailed for the longest time. A dejected Kelce looked helpless from the sidelines as his team was punctuated deep into the field by the birds. It was possibly just too much to handle: Patrick Mahomes being hit by a pick-six; a 3-peat dream unrealized; a lopsided win for the Eagles. It was a forgetful couple of weeks after that.

Instead of hitting his routine stanky leg dance, Caesar Superdome left Kelce with more questions than answers. For weeks, Kelce kept coming back to moments from the game, his mind playing it all back play after play over and over again, breaking his heart a little more than ever before in the process. At 35 years of age, Kelce had hit his rock bottom in career stats in the 2024 season with only 823 receiving yards—the lowest ever in his 12-year NFL career, except for his rookie year in 2013 when he started zero games. You see, Kelce has long chosen his fate… long before he was even a clueless rookie. His college football coach laid it out for him: Every single person in life is either a fountain or a drain. Talks about retirement were rife, but in a world full of gutters, Kelce, yet again, chose to be a fountain!

On February 27, the Chiefs made the announcement that everyone has been waiting for. They posted a picture of the tight end in his No. 87 jersey, smiling. The caption read: “YEAR 13.” It is official now! Still standing tall at 6-foot-5 with a proud 260-pound frame, Travis Kelce is going nowhere! But here’s the interesting part. It was only on Feb. 19 that Travis Kelce’s ‘New Heights’ podcast announced that they would be taking a break from recording before returning once again. But it seems they had this big announcement planned amid their hiatus. Despite the fact that the Kelce brothers bailed out on this week’s episode, KC fans will have a hard time staying mad! After all, New Heights unleashed Trav’s news in the most dramatic way possible. Take a look!

Further, Ex-NFLer and ESPN analyst, Pat McAfee, also confirmed the news. He cited one source from the network who claimed that Travis Kelce was motivated to return to the sport. As per McAfee, the source quoted Kelce: “My dog!!! I’m coming back for sure… “Gonna try and get to the best shape I’ve been this offseason and get back to the mountaintop. Got a real bad taste in my mouth with how I played in that last game and how I got the guys ready for battle. I can’t go out like that!!!!”

The TE’s friend, Patrick Mahomes, was so delighted with the news that he reacted to it with a short video from ‘The Last Dance’ docuseries. The QB used a clip of Michael Jordan’s security guard John Michael Wozniak, who had done the MJ shrug. So 2025 could be Kelce’s ‘Last Dance’.

It is said that the Chiefs owe the player a $11.5 million roster bonus, which needs to be paid by March 15. Hence, they set a March 14 deadline for Kelce to make his decision.

This development made everyone in the Chiefs kingdom happy. It’s clear. Entering the last year of his contract in 2025, Taylor Swift’s BF carries a $19.8 million cap hit.

It also marks positive news for the HC Andy Reid. He would have one less position to worry about, at least in the upcoming season. The 2013 third-round pick has been with the Chiefs his entire career and won three Super Bowl titles. But with him coming back for another season, Reid will have to be careful with the TE. After all, back in November. ‘Wall Street Journal’ mentioned how Kelce admitted that injuries had taken a toll on him and there was even a point where he contemplated retirement because of it.

Earlier this month, he also spoke about his health on his podcast. “The fact that we keep going to these AFC championships and these Super Bowls, that means I’m playing an extra three games more than everybody else in the entire league. That’s a lot of wear and tear on your body, and it’s a lot of time spent in the building, focusing on your craft, focusing on the task at hand and every challenge that you set up for yourself.”

The upcoming season for the Chiefs will be worth watching. But in the background, there are more decisions being taken. What else is happening?

Chiefs might retain Travis Kelce’s teammate!

To keep their O-line powerful, the Chiefs signed their guard Trey Smith on a franchise tag. NFL insider Ian Rapoport delighted everyone as he posted, “The #Chiefs are planning to franchise tag star guard Trey Smith, sources say. An intriguing move, as KC keeps one of its best players for $23.4M on a 1-year, fully guaranteed deal.”

During the NFL Combine, Veach shared how he would like to hold on to the core players. Smith was drafted in 2021 in the sixth round and quickly became a key player on their offensive line.

In 67 games over 4 seasons, Smith recorded 4435 snaps. He has protected Patrick Mahomes countless times. But HC Andy Reid has plenty of work to do after seeing the Eagles sack his QB six times, and even getting a pick-six. We saw the Chiefs waver off their tracks, but to be fair, it was just one game. So keeping an O-line that made it to a third consecutive Super Bowl definitely makes sense.

There’s a fair warning to be called out, though. Last year, they placed the franchise tag on CB L’Jarius Sneed. While everyone was expecting an extension to follow, they traded him to the Titans. So, it’s a mystery if they see a long future with Trey Smith or have just made another business move. For now, the 2024 Pro Bowler has secured his place at the Arrowhead.

Things are moving at a fast pace in the league. The Scouting Combine is underway in Indianapolis. As free agency approaches, expect more changes in the rosters of all 32 franchises.