The Kansas City Chiefs got their all-time receiving leader back for another season in 2025, with Travis Kelce announcing he wasn’t quite done yet.
The All-Pro tight end had already decided in late February that he was coming back. The Chiefs’ GM has a unique outlook on what the 2025 season might look like for Kelce, in a shocking prediction this early in the year.
Is Travis Kelce’s Production Taking a Beating in 2025?
Travis Kelce is now 35 years old and will turn 36 in October of the 2025 NFL season. The 2024 season was the first he had not reached 1,000 receiving yards since his rookie year in 2014. Nonetheless, he still caught 110 passes for 998 receiving yards. His four touchdowns were however tied for the lowest he’s had in any NFL season.
Kansas City Chiefs GM Brett Veach is of course thrilled to have Kelce back for another season, but has already made a rather bold assumption about his play on the field.
Per the ‘Kansas City Star‘, Veach said:
“You’ll see Travis have more of an impact. Maybe it’s not in production, but it’s the offense (overall).”
Veach continued:
“The numbers won’t be the same, I mean, you have to acknowledge a certain aspect of that, right? I don’t know if I look at it in terms of expectations for yardage or touchdowns, or catches. I think that when he’s on the field now, he makes us better.”
Travis Kelce might be planning to find his best form again this year, and if that’s the case, he needs to let his GM know. Veach seems to be expecting that Kelce will take a downturn in production in 2025, perhaps even in a reduced role.
By his own standards, it’s fair to say that Travis Kelce had a down year in 2024. He felt he’d let his teammates down, and part of the reason for coming back in 2025 was because he ‘can’t go out like that’.
The three-time Super Bowl champion made his decision almost immediately after the Super Bowl loss to the Philadelphia Eagles. He wants to make it right and help the Chiefs back to champion status before he finally hangs it up.
Chiefs May Take a More Diverse Approach to the Offense
Veach also hinted towards the Chiefs offense in general having a more diverse strategy, rather than being as heavily focused around the tight end as it has been in previous years.
In 2024, even with a slight lapse in performance, Kelce still led the team in receptions and receiving yards, closely followed by rookie wide receiver Xavier Worthy. The team drafted wide receiver Jalen Royals in the fourth round of the 2025 NFL draft, and they’ll be healthy going into the year with Rashee Rice and Hollywood Brown.
Chiefs fans might then see more of Noah Gray if Kelce is to take a lesser role. Gray has been with the team for four seasons now and signed a three-year, $18 million extension in early September of 2024.
He had his best season yet this past year, with career highs in all major categories. Gray caught 44 passes for 452 receiving yards and five touchdowns.