Kansas City Chiefs enthusiasts breathed collective sigh of relief when veteran tight end Travis Kelce announced that he was staying with the NFL for another season and coming back to the Chiefs in 2025. Kelce is 35 and going to be 36 in October, so it’s getting to that period in his career when he’ll have to retire at some point, but not yet.

Now, one NFL insider is shedding light on why Kelce decided to stay, and it makes sense. He also has a bold prediction for the Chiefs in 2025 that they are going to love.

The Chiefs fell to the Philadelphia Eagles in a big way during the Super Bowl last season. It was a lopsided game, and it’s not the way anybody would want to end their NFL career. Is that one reason Kelce decided to have another go with the Chiefs? Perhaps.

In a May 20 feature for the NFL, Jeffri Chadiha names four teams that he believes could dethrone the Eagle and win the big game next season. His No. 1 pick is the Kansas City Chiefs, which much feel good to Chiefs followers.

“The Chiefs are always a safe pick when you’re talking about teams that could contend for a championship,” he stated in the piece. “They’ve won three of the last six Super Bowls and they’ve played in five overall since Patrick Mahomes took over at quarterback in 2018. The Chiefs obviously weren’t so fortunate this past February, when the Eagles blew them out on the sport’s biggest stage, but that’s another big reason they sit atop this list: Humiliation tends to be a useful motivator for most franchises, especially proud ones like Kansas City.”

Here’s where Kelce comes in. Chadiha says that Kelce “made it clear that he spurned retirement because he didn’t want to go out like that.” So, don’t expect another poor showing in the Super Bowl if the Chief make it there again, and yes, there’s a good chance the Chiefs will be there again come February. They’ll have the Bills and Ravens to contend with, but it can be done.

Chadiha also said that Mahomes is “most dangerous when he has a chip on his shoulder.” That’s more proof, he says, that the Chiefs could go all the way during the 2025 season.

” Furthermore, most of the usual cast of characters remain on this roster, as Kansas City was able to keep both middle linebacker Nick Bolton and Pro Bowl guard Trey Smith from escaping in free agency,” he said, adding as an aside that “Bolton signed a multi-year extension, while Smith currently carries the franchise-tag designation.”

He does ask the question of whether Kanas City has “fixed the offensive line problems that plagued them throughout last season and ultimately killed them against an Eagles team that tormented Mahomes relentlessly in the Super Bowl.”

But, if the Chiefs want to win, it’s all about the offensive life. Chadiha adds that, “the Chiefs are not going to win another championship unless that O-line improves. Everything this team aspires to revolves around that.”