Travis Kelce confirms he’ll return to Chiefs for 2025 season

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (KCTV) - A celebration is in order in Chiefs Kingdom as Travis Kelce has confirmed he’ll continue to play football in Kansas City in 2025.

Late Thursday afternoon, Kelce’s podcast New Heights shared an infamous scene from the Wolf of Wall Street with Kelce’s face edited onto the clip.

“From the desk of @tkelce: ITS TIME FOR YEAR 13,” the post read.

Days after Kansas City Chiefs general manager Brett Veach said the organization expects Kelce to return for the final year of his contract and play in the 2025 season, ESPN’s Pat McAfee shared texts between he and Kelce that indicated the 35-year-old’s feelings about the upcoming season.

“I’m coming back for sure,” McAfee said Kelce told him via text. “Gonna try to get in the best shape I’ve been this offseason and get back to the mountaintop.”

McAfee said Kelce expressed regret about how he played in a 40-22 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles in Super Bowl LIX. That game, Kelce had four receptions for 39 yards. It was the fifth Super Bowl Kelce’s played in over his 12-year career.

“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!!!!” McAfee said the text from Kelce read.

McAfee’s reporting came on The Pat McAfee Show on ESPN as he and his crew did a live show from the NFL Scouting Combine in Indianapolis.

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Several Chiefs stars weighed in on the news on social media. Quarterback Patrick Mahomes tweeted a GIF from ESPN’s ‘The Last Dance’ docuseries, showing a man gleefully shrugging his shoulders, in response to an ESPN tweet that shared the news of Kelce’s return.

Defensive tackle Chris Jones, who earlier in the week said he and Kelce had “unfinished business,” also shared excitement about Kelce returning for a 13th season.

“I needed my dawg for this one!” Jones wrote on X.

Kelce had 97 receptions for 823 yards and 3 touchdowns in the 2024 regular season. If the Chiefs don’t restructure his contract for the 2025 season, he’ll carry a $19.8 million cap hit for the Chiefs.