Travis Kelce has announced he’s coming back for a thirteenth season. The time it’s taken to arrive at this decision makes it fairly obvious that a fourteenth is likely out of the question.
Chiefs Kingdom has already started to view Kelce’s return as the start of a farewell tour, and if that’s the case, then the very real quandary of having to fill Kelce’s shoes at the tight end position is still very much a concern in the present day. Tight ends need more time than other roles to adjust to the demands of the NFL and Kelce’s void is going to be especially tough to fill for a number of reasons.
Not only is Kelce the greatest to ever play the position of all-time—and this covers both franchise history and the league’s as well—but Patrick Mahomes has never not had Kelce as his security blanket. The chemistry between the two is crystal clear, and yet it’s also obvious that the show must go on in the second half of Mahomes’s career without Kelce as a go-to target on critical downs.
The Chiefs have done an excellent job of creating some security at the position to allow for Kelce to make whatever decisions he needs to make year by year. Noah Gray is a former fifth round pick turned into a very reliable contributor himself, and the Chiefs wisely locked him up to a three-year extension in 2024—keeping him in house through the 2026 campaign at a reasonable cost for what he offers.
The Raiders are up for potentially selling low on Michael Mayer, which means most teams should be kicking the tires.
Should Kelce walk away for get injured, Gray is a nice fallback, but he is also on his second contract and has never carried the lead mantle at the position. That brings us to the latest rumors coming out of Las Vegas.
The Raiders are reportedly open to trading Michael Mayer for the right price. If that’s surprising, don’t forget that Brock Bowers’ fall in the first round of last season’s draft basically forced Las Vegas to take another tight end in the first two rounds, meaning Mayer is playing second fiddle despite being a top-40 selection himself in 2023.
Mayer had a modest introduction to the NFL with 27 catches for 304 yards and 2 touchdowns, but it certainly didn’t help his production to catch passes from Aidan O’Connell or Brian Hoyer or Jimmy Garoppolo. In 2024, Mayer missed six games due to “personal reasons” and those were never disclosed to the media even after the season concluded. He finished the year with only 21 catches for 156 yards.
It’s a bit unclear what the Raiders are thinking here, since they’d be selling low on Mayer, unless they believe the personal issues might continue to be a problem going forward. The lack of production and the mystery around his availability aren’t going to inspire a team to give the Raiders back considerable return on the No. 35 overall pick in 2023.
That said, Mayer was considered a very NFL-ready tight end entering the league after dominating at Notre Dame. Mayer has great hands and had 16 touchdowns in his final two seasons for the Irish. There’s no reason to believe he can’t be a strong three-down asset for any team going forward, which should be enough to merit a decent selection in return.
At this stage, Mayer would come with two more seasons on his cheaper rookie deal with cap hits of $2.5M and $2.9M in 2025 and 2026, respectively. Mayer and Gray going into 2026 would make for a dynamic combination at the position and Mayer could even learn from Kelce in his final season.
Jared Wiley is also around and that could make for a crowded position, but if Mayer is available at the right price, it might make for too good of an opportunity to grab an underpriced asset. Maybe the rivalry between the teams would cancel any ability for the Chiefs to trade with the Raiders, but it’s worth the call.