With Travis Kelce reaching the end of his NFL career, Andy Reid and the Kansas City Chiefs hope to find a reliable successor at tight end to help Patrick Mahomes in the future.
Andy Reid will count on both Patrick Mahomes and Travis Kelce in the 2025 NFL season, but the Kansas City Chiefs know that this could be the last dance for the star duo. While the quarterback still has many years of football ahead of him, the tight end isn’t getting any younger.
The Chiefs are aware that this could be the final year in Kelce’s career, which is why they recently made an intriguing move. While Reid and company didn’t select a tight end during the 2025 NFL Draft, they did add at the position afterwards.
On Saturday, Ryan Fowler of The Draft Network reported that the Chiefs are signing Clemson Tigers tight end Jake Briningstool, who recently went undrafted.
Briningstool, who will turn 23 in December, could be seen as Kelce’s potential successor for Mahomes in Kansas City. In three years with the Tigers in the NCAA, he caught 127 passes for 1,380 yards with 17 touchown in 48 appearances.
Jake Briningstool #9 of the Clemson Tigers runs the ball during the first half of a football game against the Stanford Cardinal at Memorial Stadium on September 28, 2024 in Clemson, South Carolina.
Of course, the Clemson product will have to earn an active roster spot in training camp first. However, his mere addition is already a sign that the Chiefs are preparing for the day Kelce calls it a career.
Mahomes, Chiefs could lose Travis Kelce in 2026
Kelce is entering the final season of the two-year, $34.25 million contract extension he signed with the Chiefs in April 2024. Therefore, chances are that he retires for good when his current deal expires.
The tight end, who’s turning 36 in October, already flirted with retirement this offseason. Even though he looked ready to hang them up, the way the Chiefs lost in Super Bowl LIX convinced him to come back for at least another year.
“I still feel like I can play at a high level and possibly at a higher level than I did last year,” Kelce said on an episode of his ‘New Heights’ podcast in March. “I don’t think it was my best outing. I think I let my guys down in a lot more moments than I helped them.”
The Chiefs TEs for 2025 NFL season
With Kelce’s situation in mind, Briningstool’s addition makes sense. The Chiefs will have a number of options at TE heading into the 2025 NFL season, with fifth-year veteran Noah Gray leading the room behind Travis.
Travis Kelce
Noah Gray
Jared Wiley
Robert Tonyan
Anthony Firkser
Baylor Cupp
Jake Briningstool
While Gray seems to be the next in line for the moment Kelce steps away from football, the TE1 job will be up for grabs. Only time will tell who becomes the next tight end Mahomes can rely on when Kelce is no longer around.
