Travis Kelce's bounce-back season: How Chiefs star tight end has improved in 2025, plus assessing future

When Travis Kelce announced in late February he'd be returning to the Kansas City Chiefs for his 13th season, he cited his frustration with how the final game of the season -- the Chiefs' 40-22 Super Bowl LIX loss -- played out.

He vowed to get in better shape over the offseason to help get the bad taste out of his mouth and reportedly cut 25 pounds by the middle of the offseason. The results have spoken for themselves. After 823 receiving yards, three touchdowns and 8.5 yards per reception last season, all his fewest since his rookie year when he played in one game, Kelce has bounced back nicely for Kansas City this season.

Kelce has been more explosive this season, as the final line of the chart above indicates, even though his catches and target share are down. He has also only gotten better as the season has gone on; he had one of his top highlights in Week 11 on a touchdown that looked like vintage Kelce.

That touchdown, fittingly, was the 84th of his career, passing Priest Holmes for most in Chiefs history.

"I think he's done a heck of a job," Andy Reid said last week. "You work like crazy in the offseason to get yourself in tip top shape, and it's what you have to do when you start reaching an older age, you have to work a little bit extra, and he did that. So, it's paying off for him."

Kelce hasn't lost any of his trademark fire for the game, either. During the Chiefs' crucial Week 12 win over the Colts, cameras captured Kelce encouraging Kareem Hunt on the sideline after a fourth-quarter fumble.

Kelce is back closer to his normal, productive self, but his team is not. The Chiefs are just 6-5, third in the AFC West (a division they've won nine straight years) and 10th in the AFC. They need a late-season push just to make the postseason, and Kelce will be a big part of it.

Travis Kelce's improvement as the season has gone on

Kelce's recent uptick coincides with Rashee Rice's return.

This seems to be more of a coincidence, though, than a trend. On most of Kelce's recent big plays, Rice hasn't even been on the field. However, Rice's return has also meant fewer underneath routes -- the ones Kelce ran over and over and over for last year's historically non-explosive offense. Since Rice's return. Kelce's deep route rates are up, and his rates on short crossers, in routes and out routes is down. With speedsters like Xavier Worthy, Hollywood Brown and Tyquan Thornton taking the top off the defense, Kelce has done a good job finding deep-intermediate soft spots. His chemistry with Patrick Mahomes on the scramble drill has returned.

What the rest of the season holds

The Chiefs take center stage again on Thanksgiving for a road date with the Dallas Cowboys (4:30 p.m. ET, CBS, stream live on Paramount+). Dallas has allowed 68 receptions to tight ends this season, tied for the eighth-most in football, and Kelce could play a big role.

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Douglas Clawson

But it's the next week -- against the Texans -- in which he could be even more crucial. Houston has arguably the most talented defense in all of football and has been absolutely smothering opposing wide receivers all season. Opponents are completing just 54% of their passes intended for wide receivers, the lowest rate in the NFL. They also have a 74.9 passer rating on those throws, second lowest. But they're having significantly more success when targeting tight ends (72% completion rate, 100.1 passer rating).

The Chiefs then finish the season against the Chargers, Titans, Broncos and the Raiders.

Is this Travis Kelce's last season?

Kelce, who is in the final year of his contract, made it clear last week that he will not decide on potentially playing beyond 2025 until the season is done. He took a similar approach last year, lamenting his Super Bowl performance and seriously considering hanging up the cleats before deciding a few weeks later that he'd be back. He later said it wasn't a hard decision to keep playing.

"Last year I think I failed especially in that last game in being a leader and being the one that can step up and make plays. So just setting the bar even higher for myself this year than I have in the past," Kelce said. "Last year wasn't a success for me and I'm motivated to make sure we get that other ring this year."

The Chiefs, despite their current standing in the playoff race, are +1000 to win the Super Bowl per FanDuel Sportsbook, the third-shortest odds behind the Rams and the Eagles. Human nature suggests going out on top as the perfect ending, but that isn't always possible. Travis' brother Jason emotionally retired just weeks after losing in the Super Bowl, even though his Philadelphia Eagles were perennial Super Bowl contenders and would, in fact, win it all the very next year.

It's easy to gauge how much winning means to Travis Kelce -- "I'm only interested in Super Bowl rings," he said -- and there are other factors that could allow him to keep playing. Kelce has for the most part avoided significant injuries. He has remained productive. He is on a team that can contend for titles as long as Mahomes is there. He could pass Jason Witten for second-most receiving yards by a tight end all-time this season and would have to play several more seasons to pass Tony Gonzalez for most. He's also third in receptions by tight ends and would need several more years to pass Witten and then Gonzalez.

But Kelce also admitted after last season that off-field ventures -- notably dating pop superstar Taylor Swift -- may have contributed to his struggles in 2024. Kelce and Swift are now engaged. Reading the tea leaves doesn't help, either. Kelce said before the Super Bowl that he hoped to play for three more years. But a report also emerged from NFL Media that his decision hinged on the game's result. Kelce himself hinted at a post-playing broadcasting career this offseason; he already hosts a podcast and has appeared in several other film mediums. Kelce loves football, but he is human, after all.

Again, it's impossible to know what is pulling Kelce where and what will pull him where in the future. What if the Chiefs come up short again? What if it's not just coming up short in the Super Bowl, but coming up short of the playoffs? What if Kelce feels a similar sting from a season-ending loss this year? We just don't have these answers.

For now, the one thing we know is the Chiefs have their work cut out for them for at least the next six weeks, and Kelce will be a key factor in the latest chapter -- happy ending, sad ending or not the ending yet -- of Kansas City's dynasty.