Travis Kelce lets Chiefs fans know exactly when to find his replacement with latest contract

Travis Kelce isn't going anywhere with the Kansas City Chiefs, at least not yet. There were retirement rumors surrounding the all-world tight end and Taylor Swift's love interest going into the Super Bowl, which he shut down. Now he's done that again, at least for the next few years.

NFL Network insider Ian Rapoport reported on Monday that the Chiefs have agreed to a new two-year contract extension with Kelce that will make him deservedly the highest-paid tight end in the league.

Update: Per NFL insider Albert Breer of SI, there was a miscommunication and this is actually a raise, not an extension, and his contract will run out in 2025 instead of 2027, which is a crucial component when considering his potential retirement date.

Travis Kelce extension with Chiefs forecasts likely retirement date

Kelce will turn 35 years old in October of this season, meaning that this deal with the new money included with the Chiefs runs until he's 36 years old, which is a reasonable age to assume he's retiring. As such, this might be the best indication yet of when Kelce actually plans to hang it up in Kansas City.

This isn't to say that there's no chance that Kelce would retire before the end of this new contract extension. That's far from uncommon for NFL players -- when players know it's time or are ready to retire, they normally don't wait around longer than that. Having said that, amid the questions coming into the finale of the Chiefs' back-to-back Super Bowl runs, this gives fans a clearer timetable about what's next with their star tight end.

It also brings into question the possibility of a replacement for Kelce. Some speculated that 2024 fourth-round pick Jared Wiley could potentially be that player for the Chiefs, an ultra-athletic player full of untapped potential. Even with him coming into the building this year, it's not unreasonable to think that serving as Kelce's understudy for the next couple of seasons could be a

No matter when it happens, though, two things are true for the Chiefs. Kelce is going to leave a massive void in this offense in 2027 -- should he play out this full contract extension -- that will need to be filled. Secondly, it shouldn't be surprising to see Kansas City start to more directly address its succession plan with Kelce, whether that involves Wiley or not.