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Travis Kelce reacts to Patrick Mahomes ACL tear, appears to tip hand on Chiefs future

Meby: Nick Geddes12/17/25NickGeddesNews

The Kansas City Chiefs are suddenly in a difficult spot as a franchise. This past Sunday, they were eliminated from playoff contention. More importantly as it relates to the future, quarterback Patrick Mahomes suffered a torn ACL and LCL in his left knee.

Mahomes had surgery Monday in Dallas, putting him at risk of being available for the start of the 2026 season. For the entirety of Mahomes’ eight-year run as starter in Kansas City, tight end Travis Kelce has been his primary go-to weapon. Like everyone in Chiefs Kingdom, Kelce was devastated watching Mahomes go down with a serious injury.

“First things first, obviously, we lost our quarterback,” Kelce said on Wednesday’s New Heights podcast. “Patty Mahomes, our guy, our brother, our fearless leader, our face of the franchise, and to an ACL. And it’s just never easy seeing your guys go down. We had a bunch of guys get hurt this past game, and we fought. We fought. We had some guys fight through some stuff. We had some guys, unfortunately, not make it back out on the field.

“And for the season to be going like it did up to that point, and we’re on our last quest to try and keep our playoff hopes alive there in the fourth quarter, and on a freakish play to see 1-5 go down like that. Man, it was almost like it wasn’t real. And [it] just sucks for a guy that puts in that much and puts his body on the line week in, week out, and makes this football world — he makes the best of it by how hard he works. And it sucks, man.”

Patrick Mahomes is hurt, Travis Kelce’s NFL future up in the air

The typical recovery for an injury of this magnitude is nine to 12 months. The 2026 regular season opener is almost exactly nine months away, Sept. 10. Mahomes will certainly miss the team’s offseason program but could possibly be ready for Week 1.

We’ll see if the Chiefs will have Mahomes for the first game of the season. Will they have Kelce? That’s a big question that doesn’t yet have an answer. The 36-year-old remains productive, though the athleticism has understandably slipped as time has gone on. Retirement could certainly be on the table. And while discussing Mahomes’ injury on the podcast, Kelce might have tipped his hand of which way he’s leaning.

“He’s gonna make sure that he comes back stronger than ever and, you know, hopefully the Chiefs can get him back as soon as possible,” Kelce said. “I know right now it’s kind of right around that Week 1 or the beginning of the season next year. So, I know he’s going to be doing everything he can to get back out on that field for the Chiefs as soon as possible.”

“Hopefully the Chiefs can get him back as soon as possible.” There notably wasn’t a “we” there. Perhaps Kelce misspoke. Perhaps he is, in fact, leaning towards retirement after the 2025 season.

Either way, it’s certain the Chiefs are headed into a new era next season. After missing the postseason for the first time in the Mahomes era, changes are needed.