Whether Travis Kelce decides to play in 2025, the Kansas City Chiefs must come to the same conclusion: They have to move onto their next phase.
However, the Chiefs must understand that to move forward, to attempt to reach a fourth consecutive Super Bowl (and sixth in seven years), the offense has to change. It has to go through receivers Xavier Worthy and Rashee Rice, with Kelce being nothing more than a component.
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Over the past two seasons, Kansas City has enjoyed immense success. The Chiefs have reached both Super Bowls and won one, to say nothing about winning it all in 2022 as well. All of this came after the team traded All-Pro receiver Tyreek Hill to the Miami Dolphins, but the metamorphosis from explosive to egregiously slow didn’t happen right away.
In fact, the slowdown began in 2021. After ranking sixth, 10th and 13th, respectively, from ’18 to ’20 in average depth of target (ADOT), Patrick Mahomes checked in at 24th in Hill’s last campaign with the club as opponents began to play more shell coverages.
In 2022, the first year without Hill, Mahomes threw for 5,250 yards and earned MVP honors. However, his ADOT was still 23rd in the league. The following year, it took a nosedive to 30th as Kansas City relied heavily on poor wideouts, including Marquez Valdes-Scantling, Justin Watson, Skyy Moore and Kadarius Toney.
This past season? Mahomes failed to throw for 4,000 yards for the first time in his career while ranking 41st in ADOT, only ahead of Gardner Minshew II and Tua Tagovailoa. Part of the reason was losing Rice and Marquise “Hollywood” Brown early on to injuries, but another problem was the overreliance on Kelce.
Over the past two years, Kelce has been targeted 254 times. Rice is second on the team over that span with 131 targets despite playing just four games this season. Nobody else cracked 100. Despite that, Kelce hasn’t made either All-Pro team or gained 1,000 receiving yards after seven straight seasons of doing both before 2023.
Of course, the dependence on Kelce is also due to a factor that should keep general manager Brett Veach awake at night … the issues at left and right tackle.
And for Veach, that’s where the offseason focus must be.
Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes is sacked by Eagles defensive tackle Jalen Carter in Super Bowl LIX.
Mahomes was sacked six times by the Eagles in Super Bowl LIX. / Kirby Lee-Imagn Images
For Mahomes to get back to his fire-breathing ways, the Chiefs have to fix their issues at left tackle. While Jawaan Taylor is financially locked in for one more year (before Kansas City almost certainly releases him to save $20 million prior to 2026), the other side has options.
The Chiefs, who have approximately $11.5 million in cap space, can open up another $50 million to $60 million with an extension for All-Pro guard Joe Thuney, a restructure of Mahomes’s mega-deal and adding a void year to Kelce’s pact. With that money, Veach could re-sign Pro Bowl right guard Trey Smith and then shop for a left tackle in free agency as Alaric Jackson, Ronnie Stanley and Cam Robinson are all available.
Veach could also go another direction. He could use the third-round pick acquired from the Tennessee Titans in the L’Jarius Sneed trade last offseason (No. 66) to move up in the first round for an answer on the blindside. By saving tens of millions by drafting a left tackle instead of signing one, perhaps Veach could get in the receiver business.
With Worthy and Rice on cheaper rookie deals for a few more years, would Veach entertain trying to add another big name on the outside? There are a host of free-agent receivers worth discussing at One Arrowhead Drive, ranging from Tee Higgins and Chris Godwin to Stefon Diggs.
For Kansas City, the offensive ethos must change. For years, the Chiefs struck fear into defenses. Mahomes could go over the top at any moment. Most importantly, every throw was on the board. Now, the Chiefs are throwing shorter than any team in football, and the result was the 17th-ranked scoring offense and a unit that led the league in plays per drive.
Efficiency is good. Explosiveness is better.
And that doesn’t only go for the receivers. If the line is improved, the running backs should also be overhauled. While Isiah Pacheco is a quality player, he’s also missed 13 games over the past two years and is hitting free agency in 2026. Kareem Hunt and Samaje Perine are both free agents now.
For Veach, the draft class presents a cornucopia of options in the backfield, with running back being one of the strongest positions of this rookie crop. Kansas City would be wise to take someone on Day 2, giving the Chiefs speed in a way they haven’t enjoyed at tailback since the days of Jamaal Charles.
Ultimately, Kansas City needs to get faster across the board, and it needs to rediscover the ability to play aggressively. For years, the Chiefs and Mahomes have eschewed the intermediate and deep routes for smaller, surer gains. It’s hard to argue with most of the results, but Super Bowl LIX also showed that without a better line and some weapons to back defenses off, disaster is always looming against a quality opponent.
Kelce might play in 2025. His decision hasn’t been made. Fair enough.
But if the Chiefs want to taste glory once more and keep their dynasty rolling, Kelce’s choice pales in comparison to the other tasks at hand.
Matt Verderame
MATT VERDERAME
Matt Verderame is a staff writer for Sports Illustrated covering the NFL. Before joining SI in March 2023, he wrote for wrote for FanSided and Awful Announcing. He hosts The Matt Verderame Show on Patreon and is a member of the Pro Football Writers Association. A proud father of two girls and lover of all Italian food, Verderame is an eternal defender of Rudy, the greatest football movie of all time.
Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce (87) walks off the field at the end of the first half of Super Bowl LIX at Caesars Superdome.
Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce (87) walks off the field at the end of the first half of Super Bowl LIX at Caesars Superdome.
Akin to another native Ohioan sports superstar, Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce has finally made his decision: He’s coming back to play for at least one more year in the NFL.
Kelce formally announced his intention to return to the Chiefs on a new episode of New Heights where he fielded some tough, hard-hitting questions from his brother, Jason. Early on in the podcast, Kelce was bluntly asked how big of a factor losing Super Bowl LIX to the Philadelphia Eagles was in his decision-making process.
The 35-year-old called it “probably the biggest factor” and then gave a thoughtful take on his playing future.
“If you would’ve won, would you have come back for another season?” Jason asked Travis.
“I mean it’s a pretty cool way to go out, but I still have this love for the game,” Travis said. “I think I would have thought about it more if we would have won…100% the ending of that game, I feel like I owe the guys that I come into the building with a whole lot more effort and focus. I just don’t know what it was during that game, man. I wasn’t at my best.
“The more that I see clips or watch the film, put myself back into those moments, I’m just like, ‘What the f—?’”
Kelce admitted one mistake he made in the Super Bowl was “unacceptable” but added that he was confident he was playing football for the right reasons this upcoming season.
Kelce, a usual postseason stalwart, finished with just four catches for 39 yards and no touchdowns in the 40-22 blowout loss to the Eagles. Good thing he’ll get one more chance to end his career on a high note—or, at the very least, end it like he wants to.