Colin Cowherd suggests ‘clean break’ for Travis Kelce, Chiefs as he contemplates retirement

Fox Sports host Colin Cowherd wants Travis Kelce and the Chiefs to rip the Band-aid off and go their separate ways.

Kelce said Wednesday he is mulling retirement as the offseason begins following a disappointing end to the season, including a no-show performance against the Eagles in a 40-22 Super Bowl 2025 blowout.

“[The Chiefs] have a really good GM and they draft well,” Cowherd explained on his Fox Sports show, “The Herd.”

“This is the perfect time for a clean break. He’s got tons of money, lots of options. I think one of the mistakes basketball [and] football teams do is they cling to the end. It’s time for a clean break. He’s expensive, he’s a tight end, this is a good tight end draft, if they were gonna move up and be aggressive outside of left tackle, it’d be for [a] tight end.”

Kelce’s brother Jason, who retired last year at the age of 36, is now an analyst for ESPN and the two brothers have a lucrative podcast, “New Heights.”

Kelce surely has other options available to him on TV and other forms of media, but he’d also need to be comfortable giving up his $11.5 million roster bonus due March 14, combined with his $19 million salary for the 2025 season.

Typically, players retire at the beginning of the new league year, so if Kelce decides to hang it up, he will probably need to make it known by March 12.

“I know everybody wants to know whether I am playing next year and right now I am just kicking everything down the road. I am kicking every can I can down the road,” the three-time Super Bowl champ said on “New Heights” in an episode released Wednesday.

“I am not making any crazy decisions, but right now the biggest thing is just being there for my teammates and being there for my coaches understanding there’s a lot that goes into this thing.”

Cowherd pointed out that Kelce is expensive, declining and perhaps distracted by his pop culture celebrity thanks to girlfriend Taylor Swift.

“He’s been their No. 1 target [for the] last three or four years and he’s just a very important person,” Cowherd said. “He blocks, he’s tough, the physicality, the temperament, but it may be time to quit.

“You start looking at Travis Kelce over the last seven years; he’s played another season of NFL football for playoff games, and we ask our tight ends to block often the best athlete on the other side of the field.”

Kelce previously that he would take his time making the decision on whether he would return to the Chiefs in 2025 and that his motivation to play is the biggest part of the thinking process.

“I think I can play. It’s just whether or not I’m motivated or it’s the best decision for me as a man, as a human, as a person to take on all that responsibility,” Kelce said.

Kelce is coming off arguably his worst season, bringing in 97 receptions for 823 yards and three touchdowns, while posting back-to-back playoff duds against the Bills and Eagles.

He is the Chiefs’ all-time leader in receiving yards (12,151) and touchdowns (77).