By his lofty standards, Travis Kelce had a down year in 2024—but a down year for him is still a pretty darn good year for any other tight end in the league. His 823 yards and 97 receptions ranked fifth and third, respectively, among TEs last season. However, how he compares to other tight ends isn’t the real concern. What matters is the value he’s providing for the Chiefs, and by that metric, he’s been slipping for a couple of years.
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Kelce will turn 36 during the 2025 season, so he’s obviously no spring chicken anymore. All of his numbers, except for receptions, have steadily declined over the past three seasons from 2022 to 2024. His total receiving yards, receiving yards per game, yards per reception, receiving TDs, first downs, and success rate all dropped from 2022 to 2023 and then again from 2023 to 2024.
As your local golf pro might say, he’s clearly on the back nine. The Chiefs recognized that too: they were an elite offense, with Kelce at the tip of the spear in 2022. But they brought in several high-quality receivers over the last two years to supplement the aging TE. That’s why many, including FS1’s Emmanuel Acho, believe the Chiefs won’t be able to find success unless Kelce is “the icing, not the cake.”
“Let’s build a team that can win a Super Bowl without Travis Kelce and be glad that we have Travis Kelce. We need to stop depending on Travis Kelce to go for 1,300-1,400 yards; we need to stop depending on Travis Kelce to go for 10+ TDs. I don’t want to depend on him to beat man coverage anymore, because the tape suggested he’s not as good at 35-36 as he was at 25-26. And that’s fair,” said the former linebacker on The Facility.
.@EmmanuelAcho on whether the Chiefs can still depend on Travis Kelce:
“Travis Kelce needs to be the icing, not the cake. Build a team that can win a Super Bowl and be happy that you have Travis there.” pic.twitter.com/mZOhleK0Dq
— The Facility (@TheFacilityFS1) March 6, 2025
Over the last few years, the Chiefs drafted Rashee Rice in the 2nd round in 2023, Xavier Worthy in the 1st round in 2024, and brought in veteran Hollywood Brown to take some of that load off of Kelce. Clearly, Andy Reid and K.C. brass saw this decline coming.
The star TE’s downturn was never more evident than in the AFC Championship Game and the Super Bowl, where he combined for just 58 yards on six catches. He will be back in 2025, but even Kelce isn’t certain he can elevate his level of play.
Travis says he could “possibly” play better in 2025
The Chiefs tight end went for 70+ yards in 13 straight playoff games before the wheels fell off there in late January. During that 13-game streak, which stretched over five years, his play wasn’t at the same 1st-Team All-Pro levels of seasons past.
But he was still getting the job done in crunch time — until those last two contests. Kelce still believes he can be a top tight end, but the fact that he only admitted he could “possibly” improve on his 2024 campaign isn’t exactly encouraging.
“I still feel like I could play it at a high level and possibly at a higher level than I did last year. I don’t think it was my best outing. I think I let my guys down in a lot more moments than I helped them, especially if you look at my track record and how I’ve been in years past. I just, I want to give it a good run. I got a bad taste in my mouth on how I ended the year and how well I was playing and how accountable I was for the people around me.”
Kelce clearly still harbors a massive love and passion for the game, despite his body starting to give up on him. His older brother, Jason, had a teary-eyed retirement just last year, and we’d imagine Travis’ exit would be similar, especially considering the covenant he’s created with the community of Kansas City during his 12 years there.
“Kansas City, baby, we’re back at it for at least one more year. I can’t say whether or not this is going to be the last year because I still love a lot of what I do for the city of Kansas City and the Chiefs organization. So I know I got one on my contract, and I’m going to give you guys everything I got, baby.”
Kelce is a three-time Super Bowl champ, a seven-time NFL All-Pro, a 10-time Pro Bowler, and a member of the NFL’s 2010s All-Decade Team. Among TEs, he is 3rd all-time in receptions (1,004) and receiving yards (12,151) and 5th in TDs (77).
He also holds a litany of TE records and postseason records. So, at the end of the day, he has made his mark on the league. That should make it slightly easier to say goodbye when he eventually does. Not easy, but easier.
