Travis Kelce makes decision on Chiefs retirement as Rob Gronkowski prediction proven wrong

It’s been a disastrous season for the Kansas City Chiefs.

After missing out on a historic Super Bowl three-peat last season, the 6-10 Chiefs are winless since November 23 and will miss the postseason for the first time in almost a decade.

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The latest nadir came against the Denver Broncos on Christmas Day – a 13-20 defeat that may well have been tight end Travis Kelce’s final game at Arrowhead Stadium.

Kelce recorded just five receptions for 36 yards in the defeat, with the Chiefs’ Week 18 trip to Allegiant Stadium to face the Las Vegas Raiders next week potentially the final NFL game of his Hall of Fame-worthy career.

The three-time Super Bowl-winning tight end is playing on the final year of a two-year, $34.25 million contract with KC, a deal which is expiring this offseason, making Kelce a free agent.

Many believe the 36-year-old will retire in the summer and ride off into the sunset with fiancée Taylor Swift.

Rob Gronkowski thinks Travis Kelce could leave the Chiefs for another team

However, NFL legend Rob Gronkowski has pitched another idea: Kelce leaving the Chiefs to join another Super Bowl contender.

Gronkowski, one of the greatest TEs in NFL history, famously left the New England Patriots for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers to win another Super Bowl, and believes Kelce could follow a similar path.

“I think he’s going to test the market out there and he has to vie for a championship and the Super Bowl if he comes back,” Gronkowski said on FOX NFL Sunday.

“I don’t really see that happening with the Kansas City Chiefs.

“It’s gonna be a rebuild year kind of. They may have the potential to do it. But also, he has so many opportunities outside of the game of football. Is his heart in the place of, ‘Hey, what’s the next venture for me?’ or ‘Do I really love the game of football?’”

Fox colleague Michael Strahan the added a word of warning to Kelce if he really is thinking of walking away from the sport.

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“You never want to live with regret,” Strahan said. “Everybody talks about opportunities (away from the game) and that’s great but at the end of the day he is a football player.

“Get it out of your system. You never want to live with regrets and all this things that come after, that’s supplemental.”

Kelce has made his decision on his future

While Gronk’s prediction is an interesting one, Kelce has reportedly already made his decision.

It’s either the Chiefs, or retirement.

“My understanding is, if he was gonna play, it wouldn’t be for anyone else besides the Chiefs,” NFL Network insider Ian Rapoport said on Sunday morning.

According to Rapoport, there is “certainly is a possibility that Travis Kelce played his last game at Arrowhead this past week. He’s gonna take some time after the season is over to consider his fate and see what he wants to do, whether or not he wants to play a 14th season.”

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Kelce has been coy about his retirement plans in recent months, but addressed his future in the wake of the Broncos defeat.

“Honestly, I’ve just been focused on trying to win football games, man,” Kelce said. “I’ll let that be a decision I make with my family, friends, the Chiefs organization when the time comes.”

Before the game, Kelce sat down with fellow Kansas City tight end legend Tony Gonzalez for NFL on Prime, where he opened up further.

Gonzalez asked Kelce about his future and he didn’t shy away from the question.

“You know, that’s a good question, man,” Kelce, who admitted he has let Chiefs head coach Andy Reid down this season, said.

“I think I’m still searching for those answers. I think, obviously, the way this one ended with a sour taste in my mouth, I feel motivated, but I got to make the right decision for me.

“I’ve got to hope that, you know, if I do want to come back, the Chiefs are willing to bring me back. So it’s a two-way street on that.

“Man, I am, at this point in this year, I’m just trying to finish out and give Chiefs Kingdom everything I got, and go out there and do it with some of that flair that you said I play with.”

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