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With the NFL Scouting Combine underway, the Kansas City Chiefs’ front office is busy working on ways to free up cap space and be aggressive in improving the roster.
General manager Brett Veach already made one transaction towards that goal by releasing defensive end Mike Danna on Monday. It was one of a few obvious steps in the direction of clarity, but that endpoint may be impossible without knowledge of tight end and free agent Travis Kelce’s status for the 2026 season.
Last Friday, head coach Andy Reid told local media that there has been communication between the two sides. On Tuesday morning, Veach met with reporters at the Combine in Indianapolis and shared how the organization. has progressed with respect to Kelce’s decision.
“I think we’ve kind of taken a different approach with Travis in the sense that I think we’ve kind of prepared for either scenario,” Veach said. “Coach had mentioned on Friday [that] he’s had great dialogue with Travis on our end, myself, (assistant general manager) Chris Shea, Travis’ crew, we’ve had some good dialogue there, and I’m sure we’re going to see him here just like we will all the other players’ agents and we’ll continue that dialogue. Travis is the best, he’s an icon, hopefully he comes back and we’ll just kind of let that process play out.”
Two days into the NFL’s annual gathering of team decision makers, and Veach is unsure if one of the offense’s cornerstone players is coming back. There are fewer than two weeks until the legal tampering period opens for free agency, and the team can only straddle the fence without a definitive answer for so long.
“It’s not your typical 27-year-old first time in free agency,” Veach continued. “Travis has done everything, he has accomplished everything, he’s about to get married, he has a lot going on… You need some sort of deadline, timeline, but at the same time, it’s Travis Kelce, so we’re going to just continue to have positive dialogue and see where this thing ends.”
“We’re trying to position ourselves that either way, we have a plan moving forward.”
With nearly two months since he played in the season finale, Kelce has yet to commit to one or the other: football or retirement. The longer he mulls it over, the more stress it puts on Veach and the franchise as it works on revamping the offense, from the coaching staff to the necessary positions.
Veach subtly expressed the need for an idea of when Kelce will commit to one future or the other; that could motivate the legendary tight end to make up his mind soon.
