Given his engagement to pop star Taylor Swift a little over five weeks ago, many around the NFL have speculated that the 2025 season will be the last for Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce.
The soon-to-be 36-year-old Pro Bowler flirted with the idea of retirement back in February following the Chiefs’ 40-22 defeat to the Philadelphia Eagles in Super Bowl LIX, but decided to come back for Year 13 just a few weeks later, breaking the news on an episode of the “Pat McAfee Show.”
After spending the previous offseason taking television and movie roles — he hosted Amazon Prime’s “Are You Smarter Than a Celebrity?” and starred in FX’s “Grotesquerie” and the film “Happy Gilmore 2”— Kelce took this offseason more seriously than in years past.
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With his new commitment to training and getting into “the best shape of his life,” Kelce showed up to training camp noticeably slimmer (reports indicate he dropped more than 25 pounds) and a renewed dedication to the Chiefs.
Through the first four games of the year, the All-Pro pass-catcher has been solid, but not his usual dominant self. Kelce is second on the team to Marquise “Hollywood” Brown in receptions (15), targets (22), and receiving yards (182).
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If 2025 really is Kelce’s final season, it seems he’s already got quite a lucrative post-football job offer waiting for him, according to ESPN chairman Jimmy Pitaro.
“We’d love to talk to Travis when he’s ready,” Pitaro confirmed to the Daily Mail. “One of our priorities at ESPN is audience expansion and that really means attracting a younger audience.
“[Travis and Taylor] are able to do that and they’ve been great for the sport…great for the game of football, great for the NFL, and they’ve been great for the enterprises that carry the NFL. We’re all excited to see what that’s like going forward.”
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ESPN already employ’s Kelce’s brother Jason, whom he co-hosts the “New Heights” podcast with.
Jason signed a three-year, $24 million contract with the network shortly after retiring in 2023. The elder Kelce brother appears on ESPN’s “Monday Night Countdown” and is a guest on several of the network’s other shows.
One could assume Travis would have the same sort of setup if he accepted the network’s offer.
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