By most standards, Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce had a strong season in 2024.
But by Kelce’s standards, it was the worst season of his 12-year NFL career (he had a career-worst 823 yards and three touchdowns), and one of the top reasons why the 10-time Pro Bowler decided against retirement, opting to come back for at least one more year, possibly more.
“I love playing, I still feel like I can play at a high level, and possibly at a higher level than I did last year — I don’t think it was my best outing,” Kelce admitted on his “New Heights” podcast in February. “… I’ve got a bad taste in my mouth on how I ended the year and how well I was playing and how accountable I was to the people around me. … I don’t want to leave that life yet.”
And while wanting a better ending than the 40-22 defeat he and the Chiefs suffered against the Philadelphia Eagles in Super Bowl LIX on Feb. 9, Kelce also divulged that head coach Andy Reid was another reason he chose to come back next season.
Kelce and Reid have a close relationship, and have ever since the latter drafted the Cincinnati alum in the third round of the 2013 NFL draft during his first season as Chiefs head coach.
Most believe they share a father-son relationship, which includes being able to tell the other something that may be a little hard to hear, like what Reid told reporters on Monday at the NFL owners’ meetings was a concern of his with the 35-year-old Kelce coming back for his 13th season in 2025.
“He’s learning when to come out, so he’ll get himself out of the game when he needs it,” Reid said. “And I think that’ll just continue with age. I didn’t think that was an issue this year, but I thought we were banged up at the outside positions and that doesn’t help a tight end’s cause at all. I just think the healthier we can be around him; he can still be productive.”
Reid's comments are on par with concerns raised by some of the top NFL analysts, who agreed that it looked like Kelce lost a step in 2024, lacking the power, speed, and explosiveness that made him arguably the most dangerous tight end in the league from 2016 to 2022.
Having a healthy wide receiver corps (Rashee Rice and Marquise Brown missed 13 and 15 games, respectively) and relying more on TEs Noah Gray and Robert Tonyan seems to be Reid's plan to maximizing Kelce's production.
Based on what Kelce admitted about Reid on his podcast, if the three-time Super Bowl champion wants him to be on the field less at certain points, he will likely oblige his coach’s request.
“Coach Reid has been one of the biggest influences on my life, not just in the game of football,” Kelce said on “New Heights.” “I don’t want to stop going to work with him. I don’t want to stop learning from him. I don’t want to stop being the reason why he has success or being part of the reason he has success.”
