The Kansas City Chiefs had an excellent start to free agency. Going in, there were rumors that TE Travis Kelce could be coming back to the NFL, but maybe not in Kansas City. This rumor turned out to be false, and the star TE returned.
Kelce’s return was combined with the signing of RB Kenneth Walker III, and with Patrick Mahomes healthy again, the Chiefs’ offense could be scary.
Travis Kelce Discusses Return to Chiefs, Kenneth Walker III Signing
After a really disappointing season, finishing 6-11, the Chiefs need to get back to their winning ways. Mahomes’s season-ending injury was a major reason the team was struggling, but there were also roster issues, especially with the running game. The Chiefs were going to be leaders in the race for Walker III, and in the end, they won it, giving the Super Bowl MVP a 3-year, $43.05 million contract.
This is a massive investment in the running game, and Walker III is a clear upgrade over what the Chiefs had. Adding a star RB will take pressure off the passing game, especially Mahomes and Kelce. Both players have had to, for lack of a better word, carry the offense in recent years, but Walker can take some of that workload off them.
With that pressure off Kelce, a return for the veteran made more sense, and he signed a 1-year, $12M contract. This was big news for Kansas City with the star TE still playing at a high level, finishing last season at 12th overall in PFSN’s TE Impact Metric.
Today, Kelce joined the Pat McAfee Show to talk about coming back to the NFL:
“We’re making another run at it, and the Chiefs are making moves. We got Brett Veach and Andy Reid going and getting the Super Bowl MVP, you kidding me?”
“We’re making ANOTHER run at it..
Brett Veach and Andy Reid are MAKING MOVES”@tkelce #PMSLive pic.twitter.com/tegawzdiNP
— Pat McAfee (@PatMcAfeeShow) March 10, 2026
Clearly, Kelce is excited about the idea of playing with Walker, and although it may have been a reason for his return, it was not the only one. Later, Kelce went a bit deeper into why he decided to return another year:
“I’m still in love with this game. I still love going to work, putting on these pads, grinding it out, and just playing the game. I think my best opportunity was playing for the Chiefs yet again, and running this thing back with Pat Mahomes, coach Reid, got my guy Eric Bieniemy, coach Bieniemy, back. There’s a lot of pieces in Kansas City that I absolutely love and I can’t wait to get back in the building with them.”
“I’m still in love with this game and I still love putting the pads on..
I can’t wait to get back in the building” ~ @tkelce #PMSLive pic.twitter.com/frv2dKNPNf
— Pat McAfee (@PatMcAfeeShow) March 10, 2026
With Kelce’s return, the Chiefs will be back to competing as soon as Mahomes comes back from his injury, and with Walker III added, their odds of getting to the Super Bowl are much higher. Regarding Kelce’s future and the 1-year contract, it’s safe to assume the star TE will play his last year in the NFL next season.
