Travis Kelce will be going all-in on what will likely be his final season with the Kansas City Chiefs. While the focus right now is on making one more Super Bowl run with their three-time champion tight end, the Chiefs are also starting to think about what comes next after Kelce eventually steps away. They’ve already been labeled as a ‘potential suitor’ for one of the Chicago Bears‘ tight ends, who has previously handled the TE1 role in Chicago and has topped 500 receiving yards in three of his six NFL seasons.

Bleacher Report’s Kristopher Knox recently dropped his list of potential post-June 1 trade candidates, and on that list is Chicago Bears tight end Cole Kmet. Two teams seen as possible suitors for him are the Carolina Panthers and the Chiefs.

Kmet has emerged as a potential trade candidate as his role with the Bears appears to be shrinking, with Chicago’s tight end room becoming increasingly crowded. Because of that, the Chiefs are widely viewed as one of the most logical landing spots for the veteran tight end.

Across his career, Kmet has recorded around 2,600 receiving yards and 19 touchdowns on 258 catches. He also shares a familiar connection with Matt Nagy, who was the head coach of the Chicago Bears when the team selected Kmet in the 2020 NFL Draft. The two spent Kmet’s first two seasons together in Chicago before Nagy was let go following the 2021 season.

Kmet had previously expressed that he expects to remain in Chicago after the team’s 2025 exit meetings, and he even spoke optimistically about having a “big season” in 2026 thanks to his familiarity with Ben Johnson’s offensive system. However, the situation now appears far less certain.

After all, for the second straight draft, Chicago added another tight end, selecting Colston Loveland in 2025 and Sam Roush in 2026 under head coach Ben Johnson. That has pushed Kmet further down the depth chart after a quiet 2025 season, where he finished with just 30 catches for 347 yards and two touchdowns.

Meanwhile, Loveland quickly became the Bears’ top tight end with 58 catches for 713 yards and six touchdowns as a rookie. Kmet is still under the four-year, $50 million extension he signed in 2023 through 2027. In fact, it was only in April this year when the Bears restructured Kmet’s contract, converting $7.65 million of his salary into a bonus to create cap space.

While the restructure gives the team more breathing room on the 2026 salary cap, it comes with a trade-off, his 2027 cap hit jumps to $15.4 million. That said, there’s growing belief around the league that he could become a cap casualty as early as next spring, unless he’s moved in a trade before then.

And a trade bringing him to the Chiefs makes sense because the team’s current backups like Noah Gray and Jared Wiley are not viewed as elite, long-term starters. Kmet, 27, on the other hand, has the production (nearly 3,000 career yards) to be a legitimate TE1

Brett Veach reveals when Travis Kelce put an end to retirement speculation

One of the biggest questions surrounding the Kansas City Chiefs as soon as the offseason began was whether Travis Kelce would return for another year or finally call time on his legendary career after 13 NFL seasons.

As it turned out, Kelce ultimately decided to come back for a 14th season, and during a recent appearance on SiriusXM NFL Radio, Chiefs general manager Brett Veach revealed that he got the answer about Kelce’s future almost immediately.

“We came back [to Kansas City] that Monday [after the season ended]. We had player exit interviews, and Travis popped in the office… We talked about a lot of stuff on the coaching staff, on the roster staff… He basically said, ‘I’m not going out like this’,” Veach recalled. “I think internally, we knew he was coming back right away… He’s such a competitor… Him and [Patrick Mahomes] have almost like a brother-like relationship. It’s not even a teammate relationship… I think there’s an element of Travis wanting to see Pat through this rehab process.”

Kelce already has one of the best careers ever for a tight end. He is a three-time Super Bowl champion, an eleven-time Pro Bowler, and a seven-time All-Pro with four first-team selections and three second-team honors.

The Chiefs finished last season with a disappointing 6-11 record, and that may have played a big role in why Travis Kelce decided not to retire yet. Even in a tough year for Kansas City, Kelce still managed 76 catches for 851 yards.

And as Veach also noted, Kelce’s strong relationship with Patrick Mahomes may have influenced his decision to return. Mahomes is currently recovering from a torn ACL suffered in December, and Kelce likely wanted to support his quarterback during rehab.

On March 23, 2026, Kelce signed a one-year, $12 million contract with Kansas City. Veach added that the team knew early in the offseason that Kelce planned to return, helping them prepare for free agency and the 2026 season.

While Brett Veach would not say if 2026 will be Travis Kelce’s final season, the Kansas City Chiefs still view him as a key part of the offense after not drafting a tight end this year.