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Chiefs teammate wants to retire with Travis Kelce and not any time soon

Posted on June 13, 2024 - 1:05 am by

All-Pro defensive tackle Chris Jones made it clear he wants to ride off into the sunset alongside star teammate Travis Kelce when the moment comes.

AFC Championship – Kansas City Chiefs v Baltimore Ravens / Rob Carr/GettyImages

Despite resetting their respective positional markets with lucrative contract extensions this offseason, Kansas City Chiefs stars Chris Jones and Travis Kelce see things differently.

Jones seems to have found a new lease on life after signing a five-year, $158.75 million deal with the Chiefs in March. Meanwhile, the topic of retirement continues to surround Kelce. 

On Tuesday, Kelce told reporters that he “can’t put a timeframe” on when his playing career will end. Naturally, his comments sent everyone into a frenzy. Nonetheless, the star tight end added that he intends to “keep going until the wheels fall off.” 



Entering his age-35 campaign and snapping a streak of seven consecutive 1,000-yard receiving efforts, it is understandable that Kelce is thinking about life after football. However, Jones suggested we all pump the brakes on chatter about the former hanging up the cleats anytime soon during his media availability on Wednesday.

Chiefs DT Chris Jones wants to retire with Travis Kelce, and not anytime soon

“Once you begin to think about things like that, you’re getting to feed the mind those types of thoughts,” Jones said. “I don’t even want my mind to even go that far to the ‘R’ word.”



You can see the confusion on Jones’ face as he gets asked about Kelce potentially retiring soon — he was utterly perplexed by that question. Yes, the latter is entering his twilight years as a dominant force in the NFL. But many act like the latter didn’t play a massive role in the team securing a second consecutive Super Bowl title this past season. Still, the All-Pro defensive tackle jokingly took the opportunity to make his teammate feel his age.

“But Trav [Kelce], he’s —-ing pretty old,” Jones said as he began grinning from ear to ear, failing to contain his laughter. “I’m just playin’ Trav — I love you.”

Afterward, Jones wondered why Kelce even entertains the possibility of retirement. “He’s [Kelce] got like four or five more years [left]. What is he talking about retirement for?” the star interior defensive lineman communicated. 



“We can’t let TK [Travis Kelce] go. … We’ve got to retire together. Give me at least six, four years, then we’ll talk about it.”

Considering time is on his side, it’s easy for Jones to say. He is 29 and has a new long-term pact in place. Unfortunately, Kelce is five years older and cannot say the same. Moreover, the four-time All-Pro seam stretcher began breaking down physically in 2023, suffering knee and ankle injuries.

Regardless, Jones is only saying what every Kansas City fan is hoping for. Chiefs Kingdom never wants this era of championships led by their current franchise core to end.