Colin Cowherd: Why it is the perfect time for Travis Kelce to retire from the NFL and get a ‘clean break’

Colin Cowherd believes the tight end-rich NFL Draft this year is Travis Kelce‘s green light to retire.

In light of the Chiefs’ devastating 40-22 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles in the Super Bowl in New Orleans, retirement rumors have hovered over the Kansas City star’s future.

Speaking on The Herd, the FS1 host noted how Kelce has cemented himself as a great and set himself up financially enough to call it quits on the field. He also stated that there is no need for Kelce to run his wheels thin in the NFL.

‘He’s been their number one target [for the] last three or four years and he’s just a very important person,’ Cowher began. ‘He blocks, he’s tough, the physicality, the temperament, but it may be time to quit.’

‘You start looking at Travis Kelce over the last seven years, he’s played another season of NFL football for playoff games and we ask our tight ends to block often the best athlete on the other side of the field.’

Cowherd emphasized how the Chiefs offense, besides Kelce, has been ‘patchwork’ with ever-moving pieces coming through a revolving door despite their success.

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Colin Cowherd suggested that it is the perfect time for Travis Kelce to retire from the NFL

He then credited Chiefs general manager Brett Veach’s drafting ability as he pleaded his case for Kelce.

‘They have a really good GM and they draft well,’ Cowherd declared. ‘This is the perfect time for a clean break. He’s got tons of money, lots of options. I think one of the mistakes basketball [and] football teams do is they cling to the end.’

‘It’s time for a clean break. He’s expensive, he’s a tight end, this is a good tight end draft, if they were gonna move up and be aggressive outside of left tackle, it’d be for [a] tight end.’

In his tenth year with Kansas City, Kelce’s numbers have fallen significantly from previous campaigns. While he’s tallied 97 receptions, four more than last year, the tight end is seeing career-low yards (823) and touchdowns (3).

Philadelphia held Kelce to four receptions out of six targets and a paltry 39 yards. They also sacked quarterback Patrick Mahomes six times in the defensive masterpiece in the Super Bowl.

With rumors of retirement circulating, the three-time Super Bowl champion addressed the whispers in the latest installment of the New Heights podcast.

‘I’m gonna take some time to figure it out,’ said Kelce. ‘And I think I owe it to my teammates that if I do come back that it’s gonna be a wholehearted decision and I’m not half-a**ing it, and I’m fully here for them.

‘I think I can play, it’s just whether or not I’m motivated or it’s the best decision for me as a man, as a human, as a person to take on all that responsibility.’