The regular season has ended, and we still don’t know which side Travis Kelce is leaning toward. But while the Kansas City Chiefs’ tight end mulls over his retirement decision, Andy Reid isn’t taking any chances. The Chiefs have signed another tight end to a reserve deal.

The contracts of seven players on the practice squad expired today. But after a solid year of development, they have decided to re-sign TE Tre Watson to a reserve/future contract.

Tre has reportedly been on the Chiefs’ practice squad for most of the season and seems to be the only player retained from the practice squad whose contract expired.

With reserve/future contracts, nothing becomes official until the 2026 league year opens in March. These players are essentially placeholders. They can be pushed aside later by veterans, draft picks, or undrafted free agents. But they’re also players the team wants to keep working with.

Watson arrived in Kansas City last April as an undrafted free agent. Over four college seasons split between Fresno State Bulldogs and Texas A&M Aggies, he totaled 77 catches for 872 yards. The production was solid, but it was his athletic testing that really caught the attention of team evaluators.

His first summer didn’t go smoothly. Watson opened training camp on the non-football injury list for undisclosed reasons. Once activated on July 27, he played in all three preseason games, caught one pass for four yards, and was waived at final cutdowns.

Instead of moving on, the Chiefs brought him back to the practice squad, where he spent the entire season. Clearly, the work he put in didn’t go unnoticed. Reid and the staff liked what they saw.

That becomes more obvious when you look at who wasn’t retained. Kansas City chose not to bring back guard Nick Brocker, wide receiver Jason Brownlee, or running back Clyde Edwards-Helaire. Watson made the cut while others didn’t. He’s the fifth practice-squad player signed to a reserve/future deal, joining two outside free agents already added under the same designation.

With Watson now in the fold, the Chiefs have three tight ends under contract for the 2026 season, alongside Noah Gray and fellow 2025 undrafted free agent Jake Briningstool. It could become four, depending on what Kelce ultimately decides.

Travis Kelce mulls over retirement decision

Travis Kelce has already said he plans to make his retirement decision by early March, before free agency opens. That timeline has been out there for a while. What’s been harder to read is the direction he’s leaning, though he’s dropped a few hints along the way.

Kelce has acknowledged he hasn’t locked in a final answer yet, but he made it clear that both he and the Chiefs are very much on the same page about where things stand right now.

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“I’ve talked to a few people in the facility already, you know, having the exit meetings, and they know where I stand at least right now,” Kelce said on New Heights, alongside his brother Jason Kelce and actor Matt Damon.

That still doesn’t tell us exactly what he’s going to do. What we do know is that the two-year, $34.25 million deal Kelce signed in 2024, worth $17.125 million per year, expires when the league year ends on March 11. At this point, the idea of Kelce coming back for a 14th NFL season in 2026 would surprise a lot of people.

The resume is pretty much complete. Kelce is a seven-time All-Pro, an 11-time Pro Bowler, a three-time Super Bowl champion, and a future Hall of Famer. He has earned more than $100 million over his career, and that doesn’t even touch the endorsement money. If he comes back, it won’t be because he needs the paycheck.

It would all have to be about passion. And after the way this season unfolded, that love probably isn’t at its peak. Kansas City’s 6–11 finish was jarring. It marked just the second time in Kelce’s career that the Chiefs missed the postseason. Individually, it wasn’t his sharpest year either.

He finished with 76 catches for 851 yards and five touchdowns, enough to earn an 11th straight Pro Bowl nod, but there were some costly drops mixed in along the way. It’s going to take a few more weeks (or months) of sitting with it before Kelce decides what the next chapter looks like.