Ranking Travis Kelce and the NFL's 10 Greatest Tight Ends of All Time

Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce isn't retiring from the NFL quite yet.

According to Ian Rapoport of NFL Network, Kelce is returning to the Chiefs in 2026. ESPN's Adam Schefter reported that he agreed to a one-year, $12 million deal that has "a max value of $15 million."

Kelce's 2025 season was a forgettable one by his lofty standards. He finished with 76 receptions for 851 yards and five touchdowns. His last 1,000-yard season came in 2022.

Despite that, Kelce is an all-time great. Five years after he officially files his retirement papers, he will likely make it into the Pro Football Hall of Fame on the first ballot.

While we know that Kelce is one of the best tight ends in NFL history, how great is he? Where does the 36-year-old stack up against the most unstoppable tight ends in the history of the game?

That's what we set out to answer here.

10. Jason Witten

AP Photo/Marco Garcia

Jason Witten isn't the most talented tight end in these rankings. In fact, over 17 years with the Dallas Cowboys and Las Vegas Raiders, he might have never been the best tight end in the league in a given year.

But that doesn't mean that Witten wasn't a great player in his own right. The numbers bear that out.

For his career, Witten hauled in 1,228 catches for 13,046 yards. Among all tight ends in NFL history, only Tony Gonzalez (who will be featured here a bit later) has more receiving yards.

Witten was named to a whopping 11 Pro Bowls and twice earned first-team All-Pro honors. Witten had at least 90 receptions in a season four times and logged an equal number of seasons with over 1,000 receiving yards.

Witten, who averaged only 10.6 yards per catch for his career, wasn't a big-time downfield threat. He never played in the Super Bowl. And Witten is the only player in these rankings who has yet to be inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

But that honor figures to be coming eventually, because Witten is one of the top 10 tight ends in league history.

9. Jackie Smith

AP Photo

Jackie Smith is probably the best tight end in NFL history that few casual fans under a certain age have heard of.

Over 16 years spent mostly with the St. Louis Cardinals, Smith averaged 16.5 yards per catch. That still stands as the NFL record for tight ends who played in at least 100 games.

In an age where tight ends weren't nearly as much of a factor in the passing game as they are nowadays, Smith erupted for 56 catches for 1,205 yards in 1967—a gaudy 21.5 yards per reception. That team record stood for six decades before Trey McBride broke it this past season.

As teammate Tim Van Galder told reporters, Smith wasn't a player to be trifled with on the field.

"He was the baddest dude you ever played with; you'd have to shoot him to stop him," said Van Galder. "Nobody messed with Jackie Smith."

Unfortunately, Smith's biggest NFL moment was arguably his worst—a dropped touchdown that was a pivotal play in Super Bowl XIII. But that doesn't change the fact that Smith was a five-time Pro Bowler who was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1994.

8. Ozzie Newsome

AP Photo/Mark Duncan, File

At this point, Ozzie Newsome is better known by many as the architect of much of the success the Baltimore Ravens have enjoyed over the past 30 years. But back in the day, Newsome was a pretty good tight end.

In fact, Newsome was such a good player coming out of Alabama that legendary Crimson Tide coach Bear Bryant called him "the greatest end in Alabama history."

"A total team player," Bryant said, "fine blocker, outstanding leader, great receiver with concentration, speed, hands."

After being drafted 23rd overall by the Cleveland Browns in 1978, Newsome carried that level of play over to the pros. Over 13 years with the Browns, Newsome hauled in 662 catches for 7,980 yards and 47 touchdowns.

Newsome topped 1,000 receiving yards twice and was named to three Pro Bowls. Newsome was also the first player in NFL history to log at least one reception in 150 consecutive games, and at the time of his retirement, he held the career record among tight ends for both receptions and receiving yards.

Newsome never played in a Super Bowl, but he was part of seven postseason runs in Cleveland. He was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1999.

7. Mike Ditka

AP Photo/File

Mike Ditka has one claim to fame that no other tight end on this list can match. As Tyler Dunne pointed out at Go Long, Ditka was the NFL's first true tight end.

"The position does not exist without Iron Mike," Dunne wrote. "Pre-1961, nobody in the sport even used the term 'tight end.' There were split ends and ends—that's it. Ditka had a tectonic impact on the sport. When Bears OC Luke Johnsos shifted the rookie just a few yards off the line and introduced the concept of a two-way release, the position was born."

Ditka was every bit the fiery competitor as a player for the Chicago Bears, Philadelphia Eagles and Dallas Cowboys that he was as the head coach of the Chicago Bears, whether it was as a blocker or catching passes over the middle.

Ditka won a Super Bowl with the Cowboys, but his best statistical seasons came early in his career in Chicago. Ditka was named to the Pro Bowl after each of his first five seasons, and as a rookie, he caught 58 passes for 1,076 yards and a dozen touchdowns. Numbers like that were unheard of for a non-wide receiver in 1961.

Ditka was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1988.

6. Kellen Winslow

AP Photo/Lenny Ignelzi

Kellen Winslow paved the way for every tight end ranked ahead of him on this list.

Sure, tight ends caught passes before Winslow. But there had never really been a tight end like him before—a player whose primary role was a receiver lined up out wide. And as Bill Belichick said in 2010 (per Daniel Popper of The Athletic), Winslow's role in Don Coryell's offense changed the way tight end is played.

"That position has evolved to the point where, each year in the draft, there are fewer athletes who are block-on-the-line tight ends," he said. "Those types are getting harder to find. The pass-receiving tight ends are the ones getting paid the big money—Jeremy Shockey, (Antonio) Gates and those guys—catching passes and scoring touchdowns. They're all direct descendants of Kellen Winslow."

Winslow played just nine seasons, but he was a five-time Pro Bowler who eclipsed 1,000 receiving yards three times. His 1,290 receiving yards in 1980 set an NFL record for the position—a record that stood until 2011. There are still only four tight ends ever who have bested that mark.

Winslow's performance in the "Epic in Miami" playoff win over the Dolphins in 1981 is one of the best single-game performances ever at the position. He caught 13 passes for 166 yards and a touchdown and had to be helped off the field after the win because he was so exhausted.

5. Shannon Sharpe

AP Photo/Jack Dempsey

Shannon Sharpe was a ridiculous physical specimen with a tenacious work ethic. His numbers speak for themselves. He had 815 career catches for 10,060 yards and 62 touchdowns.

But there is one category where Sharpe was the unquestioned best to ever play at tight end—talking smack.

As Bronco Mike at Mile High Report wrote back in 2013, Sharpe made Chiefs linebacker Derrick Thomas lose his mind so much that Thomas committed five unsportsmanlike conduct fouls on one drive.

"Sharpe and Derrick Thomas knew each other," Bronco Mike wrote. "Sharpe knew the phone number of Thomas' girlfriend and before each snap on that final drive would recite the entire phone number one digit at a time. Talk about getting into someone's head!"

An eight-time Pro Bowler who was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2011, Sharpe was one of the first true "modern" tight ends.

Sure, Sharpe could block. But his job was to create mismatches over the middle and catch passes, and he did so with aplomb. He topped 1,000 receiving yards three times.

The three-time Super Bowl champion still holds the record for the most receiving yards by a tight end in a game (214) and the longest postseason touchdown catch (96 yards).

4. Antonio Gates

AP Photo

That Antonio Gates wasn't drafted at all back in 2003 is one of those facts that, in hindsight, is migraine-inducing. So is the fact that Gates didn't play college football.

Just like the headaches that Gates gave defenders in the NFL.

While speaking to reporters, Gates admitted that his journey from basketball player to Pro Football Hall of Famer is the stuff of Hollywood movies.

"It's like I'm telling a fiction story," Gates said. "To tell somebody they can come to the NFL and not play college football but then make the team … and then start … and then make the Pro Bowl and be All-Pro your second year … and then be the all-time touchdown leader ... It's not even a story you can make up. The chances? The odds? They're crazy. When I think back, it's not about the games or the stats. It's about the journey. Never in a million years would I have thought something like this would happen."

Over 16 seasons with the Chargers, Gates piled up 955 receptions for 11,841 yards and an NFL-record (for a tight end) 116 receiving touchdowns.

It's simple. If the Chargers got inside the 10, they were going to target the eight-time Pro-Bowler. And the opposing defense was cooked. Period.

3. Travis Kelce

AP Photo/Reed Hoffmann

When the Kansas City Chiefs selected Travis Kelce in the third round of the 2013 NFL draft, they hoped to be getting a good player.

What they got was one of the best tight ends ever to play the game.

Kelce barely played as a rookie. Three years later, he posted his first 1,000-yard season. That was the beginning of a rampage that included seven straight 1,000-yard campaigns, including a career-high 1,416 yards in 2020.

That remains the most yards ever in a single season by a tight end. And that's just one of the long list of records Kelce has set.

No tight end has more 1,000-yard seasons or consecutive ones. Kelce has more catches in the playoffs than any player in NFL history. He has more 100-yard games in the playoffs than any pass-catcher ever. He has the most receiving yards and touchdowns in the playoffs than any tight end in NFL history, too. And he's averaging the most receiving yards per game (69.4) of any tight end ever.

Kelce played a massive role in the Chiefs' 21st-century dynasty—a dynasty that won three Super Bowls.

For the better part of a decade, the 11-time Pro Bowler wasn't just the best tight end in the NFL. There was every other player at the position. Then a gap of about eight miles. Then Travis Kelce.

2. Tony Gonzalez

AP Photo/Charlie Riedel, File

If you programmed all the traits that NFL teams wants from a tight end into a 3D printer, it would spit out Tony Gonzalez.

A first-round pick of the Chiefs in 1997, the former college basketball and football star was a matchup nightmare who was too physical for cornerbacks and too fast for linebackers and safeties. Strength. Size. Speed. Hands. Toughness. "Gonzo" checked all the boxes.

In 1999, Gonzalez caught 76 passes for 849 yards and 11 scores on the way to the first of what would be 14 trips to the Pro Bowl. The following season, he racked up 1,203 receiving yards—the first of his four 1,000-yard seasons. In 2004, he led the league with 102 catches.

By the time Gonzalez hung up his cleats in 2013 after five seasons with the Atlanta Falcons, he had played a whopping 17 NFL seasons. He was named a first-team All-Pro six times and had amassed 1,325 career receptions for 15,127 yards and 111 touchdowns.

The reception and yardage numbers remain the high-water mark for NFL tight ends. The only tight end in league history who has more touchdown catches is Antonio Gates.

Gonzalez was also the definition of durable. Over his 17 NFL seasons, he missed all of one game.

Gonzalez was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2019.

1. Rob Gronkowski

AP Photo/Elise Amendola

All hail King Gronk, the most dominant tight end the NFL has ever seen.

The New England Patriots selected Rob Gronkowski with a second-round pick in 2010. By his second season, it was apparent that Gronkowski was going to be a problem for opposing defenses, and there was little they could do about it.

That year, Gronkowski reeled in 90 passes for 1,327 yards and a league-high 17 touchdowns. The former was a record for tight ends. The latter still is. And that was just the beginning.

Over 11 seasons (nine in New England, two in Tampa Bay), Gronkowski surpassed 1,000 receiving yards four times. In five of his first six seasons, he scored double-digit touchdowns. He was a five-time Pro Bowler, a four-time first-team All-Pro and the 2014 NFL Comeback Player of the Year.

Those gaudy numbers extend into the postseason. In the first playoff game of his career, Gronkowski set an NFL record for tight ends with three touchdowns in a 10-catch, 145-yard effort. No quarterback and pass-catcher in league history have combined for more postseason touchdowns than Gronkowski and Tom Brady.

Gronkowski won four Super Bowls, and he's the only player in NFL history to catch a pass in five Super Bowls.