"If it's the last ride, you would never know": Patrick Mahomes addresses Travis Kelce's retirement rumors

Patrick Mahomes sent a strong message about the retirement rumors surrounding his star tight end and favorite target, Travis Kelce. Following a disappointing end to the 2024 season with a poor performance in Super Bowl LIX - which the Philadelphia Eagles won 40-22 - the rumors about Kelce flooded social media.

It's been a couple of months since his most recent game, but the tight end is already preparing for another season in which the Kansas City Chiefs will try to return to the top of the league.

A lot has been said about whether this would be Kelce's final season in the NFL, but Mahomes doesn't think that's the case. During a conversation with reporters on Thursday, the star quarterback put that notion to rest.

"If it's the last ride, you'd never know," Mahomes said. "The way he's talking about football, the way he’s talking about working, trying to be even better this year than he was last year -- it doesn't seem like a guy that it’s his last ride, like he’s tired of the job.

"He's in there, he's working. I know his body feels go. I think he feels better than even last year before going into last season. I think he's motivated to go out there and have an even better year than he had this last."

As Patrick Mahomes said, fans could be seeing the last of Travis Kelce on an NFL field, but we won't know until we know. The chemistry these two have is nothing but remarkable and Chiefs Kingdom is looking forward to watching them together for one more season.

While Kelce is back in action, not many thought he made the best decision.

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Mike Florio says Travis Kelce missed his best retirement chance

After it was known that Travis Kelce would be back with the Kansas City Chiefs in March, NFL analyst Mike Florio questioned the decision, saying that he missed a good opportunity to leave the league after Super Bowl LIX.

"You can't engineer your exit, and there's a chance that next year's exit is going to be worse, not better, not many guys get to say 'I went out with a Super Bowl game,'" Florio said. "Even fewer get to say 'I went out with a Super Bowl loss.' There's a good chance that Travis Kelce is going to exit after this year with something far less than a Super Bowl loss."

Not everybody can leave the NFL on their own terms, but Kelce wants to try his hand.