• Travis Kelce at Caesars Superdome on Feb. 9, 2025 in New Orleans.

Travis Kelce ended the 2024 NFL season with career lows in yards and touchdowns — 823 and three, respectively. He looked like he might be nearing the end of one of the greatest tight end careers in NFL history. At 35 years old, an advanced age for his position, he often looked average on the field — other than a vintage Kelce stretch of games during the middle of the season.

Then he caught seven passes for 117 yards and a touchdown in the Kansas City Chiefs’ divisional playoff win over the Houston Texans, single-handedly dragging an otherwise lethargic passing game into the AFC Championship Game.

“We’ve all seen it over the last few years,” general manager Brett Veach said. “There are periods throughout the season where you’re like, ‘This might be it.’ But when the games are the most important and the lights are the brightest, he finds it somewhere.”

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With Kelce turning 36 in October, the Chiefs expect that in 2025 he will still be the player they know well.

“The great ones know how to find it,” Veach said. “They know where it’s buried, and they know how to access it. And they can’t access it at that age week in and week out, but when they need it, they know how to find it.”

Still, the Chiefs are trying to steer themselves away from needing Kelce the way they have in recent seasons by planning to shift some of the receiving burden to others.

At wide receiver, they should see the return of Rashee Rice, who was leading the league in receptions through three games last year before a Week 4 knee injury ended his season. They also re-signed Hollywood Brown and are expecting a jump in production from Xavier Worthy, who caught 59 passes as a rookie last season. At tight end, the Chiefs also have Noah Gray, who last season set career highs in catches (40), yards (437) and touchdowns (five).

That doesn’t mean the expectations are minimal for Kelce, who will be playing under the final year of a two-year, $34.25 million contract extension he signed last year.

“I expect Travis to be Travis,” quarterback Patrick Mahomes said. “Obviously, the play on the field’s going to be high. He’s going to go out there with the mentality that we’re trying to win the Super Bowl this year with us falling short this last year. Then, I think more than anything, it’s the leadership that he brings to the building every single day. How he leads by example and how he leads vocally, it’s a big impact on our football team, so I expect him to play at a high level and then be an even better leader.