Chiefs' Patrick Mahomes Says Travis Kelce Doesn't Seem Like Player on 'His Last Ride'

Patrick Mahomes doesn't sound 100 percent convinced that Travis Kelce is entering his final NFL season.

"If it's the last ride, you would never know," he told reporters Thursday. "The way he's talking about football, the way he's talking about working, trying to be even better than he was last year—it doesn't seem like a guy that it's his last ride, or he's tired of the job. He's in here, he's working, and I know his body feels good. I think he feels better than even last year, before going into last season, just because he's motivated to have an even better year."

Kelce is a 10-time Pro Bowler, three-time champion and four-time first-team All-Pro selection, making him a lock to be a first-ballot Hall of Famer once he retires. But he started to show signs of decline last season, finishing with his lowest receiving yards (823) and touchdowns (three) since his rookie season.

Granted, he remained a hugely important weapon for Mahomes, catching 97 passes on 133 targets. Most tight ends in their primes would kill for the numbers Kelce put up last season. But it was also the 35-year-old's second straight season failing to reach the 1,000-yard mark, a threshold he had reached seven straight seasons prior and an indication that Father Time has started to catch up to him.

That seemed incredibly apparent during a rough Super Bowl appearance that saw him catch just four passes for 39 yards (with no receptions in the first half), drop a pair of throws, struggle to get separation against the Philadelphia Eagles defenders and offer very little resistance as a blocker. He wasn't the only Kansas City player to play poorly in the 40-22 throttling, but the performance instantly cast doubts on his ability to be an elite playmaker going forward.

It should be noted that Chiefs' general manager Brett Veach did later say that Kelce "was battling with a pretty big illness before the Super Bowl." But Kelce himself acknowledged that he simply "wasn't at my best."

So it wouldn't surprise anyone if the 2025 season was ultimately Kelce's final rodeo. But Mahomes believes he looks like a player who still has plenty left in the tank.