KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce plans to play next season rather than retire.
The 35-year-old Kelce had been mulling whether to return for a 13th NFL season, but the four-time All-Pro first-team selection made his feelings clear in a text to Pat McAfee that the host read during “The Pat McAfee Show” on Thursday.
“My dawg!!! I’m coming back for sure,” Kelce wrote, according to McAfee. “Gonna try to get to the best shape I’ve been this offseason and get back to the mountaintop. Got a real bad taste in my mouth about how I played in that last game and how I got the guys ready for battle. I can’t go out like that!!!!”
The Chiefs’ quest to become the first team to win three straight Super Bowls ended with a 40-22 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles on Feb. 9 at the Superdome in New Orleans.
Kelce professed his love for football several times leading up to the title game, but he also said on his own podcast that he would “take some time” to figure out if he would retire or return for another season.
Kelce’s decision is hardly a surprise, considering Chiefs general manager Brett Veach said Tuesday at the NFL combine that he was “was fired up” to keep playing after the season ended.
Kelce’s contract includes an $11.5 million roster bonus due March 15. Veach said the team was moving forward with its offseason plans “as if he’s here.”
Buccaners to honor Gruden again
TAMPA, Fla. — The Tampa Bay Buccaneers said they’re reinstating former coach Jon Gruden into the team’s ring of honor less than four years after removing him over his use of racist, homophobic and misogynistic language in emails he wrote to an NFL executive.
“Jon Gruden was initially inducted into the Buccaneers Ring of Honor based on his many accomplishments during his seven seasons as our head coach and he remains a significant figure in the history of our franchise,” the team said in a statement released Thursday. “Upon further reflection, we have decided to reinstate him into the Buccaneers Ring of Honor.”
Gruden was inducted in 2017 but removed four years later amid the email scandal, which also led to his resignation as head coach of the Las Vegas Raiders five games into the 2021 season.
Gruden’s comments were in emails written from 2011-18 to Bruce Allen, a club executive for the Washington Redskins at the time. Gruden was not in the NFL during those years, when he was an analyst for ESPN. His emails were collected by independent investigators during an investigation of sexual harassment allegations and other workplace conditions at what was at the time known as the Washington Football Team (now the Commanders).
Gruden coached the Bucs from 2002-2008, leading them to their first Super Bowl triumph in his first season in Tampa. He was 60-57 altogether in seven seasons with the Buccaneers, including 3-2 in the playoffs.
He was 62-60 with the Raiders, whom he coached from 1998 to 2001 and again from 2018-21, a period in which they moved from Oakland to Las Vegas.
Salary cap set for 2025 season
INDIANAPOLIS — The NFL’s salary cap will be a record-high $279.2 million in 2025, an increase of $23.8 million.
The league informed teams of the new cap figure Thursday at the scouting combine at Lucas Oil Stadium, the home of the Indianapolis Colts.
The cap is up $102 million since 2018. It was $34.608 million in 1994, the first year the NFL had a cap. Total projected player costs, including benefits, are slotted at $362.48 million.
Teams must be under the cap by 4 p.m. Eastern on March 12.