Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce was the subject of a lot of talk at the end of last season with some speculating he might be retiring after Super Bowl LVIII.
But he fairly quickly decided he wanted at least one more go in the NFL. And it’s possible that this season will mark Kelce’s last since will turn 36 on Oct. 5.
When Kelce retires, it will leave a large hole to fill in the Chiefs’ lineup. Head coach Andy Reid has been smart about the team’s tight end position, knowing that any year may be Kelce’s last, but it will still be a big loss to the team when he finally leaves the NFL and goes off to enjoy married life with Taylor Swift.
So, what will the Chiefs do when Kelce eventually retires?
They’d be smart to bring on some young talent, and that’s exactly what Ayrton Ostly of USA Today believes will happen. In an early 2026 mock draft, Ostly does some way early guessing, and he sees an apt replacement for Kelce in next year’s lineup.
Ostly has the Chiefs taking Oregon tight end Kenyon Sadiq with the No. 20 overall pick. He even goes so far to say that Sadiq could replace Kelce and make for a “dynamic” addition to the lineup.
“Sadiq is exactly the kind of matchup nightmare NFL teams look for in tight ends,” Ostly noted. “At 6-foot-3 and 245 pounds, Sadiq is a more than capable blocker with elite speed for his size. Kansas City needs more athletic difference-makers on offense. Sadiq could be the heir to Travis Kelce as a versatile, dynamic threat inline or outside.”
Kelce is still at the top of his game, though. In ESPN’s annual feature on the best tight ends going into the new season, Jeremy Fowler had Kelce named the No. 5 TE in the league.
“Kelce is still dangerous in the red zone, where he turned 26 targets into 19 catches for 106 yards and three scores,” Fowler wrote. “He still led the Chiefs in targets (133) last season.”
An anonymous executive in the NFC also said of Kelce: “He’s still awesome. It might not look as exotic as he used to, but you still look up and he’s got nine for 70.”
Whether or not Kelce actually retires at year’s end is still unknown, but even if he sticks around in 2026, the Chiefs would be smart to consider Sadiq as his future successor.
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