Time To Hang It Up: Five NFL Tight Ends (TEs) That Should Retire After The Season

The tight end position typically has players that can play later into their careers than other positions. You don't usually see many running backs, wide receivers, or defensive and offensive linemen over 31 years old have much success or even play at all in the NFL.

There are some outliers, of course. But even for the TEs, father time is undefeated, and some currently signed or technically unretired players in this position should strongly consider walking away from the game. Of course, many players don't call it quits until their body does the same, so this doesn't mean they'll do it.

Let's break down five of these players below.

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Travis Kelce, TE, Kansas City Chiefs

There's little doubt that Kelce is the greatest tight end to ever play the game of football. He's had a stellar career, will be a first-ballot Hall of Fame inductee, and had unprecedented success. But he's 35 years old now, and 2022 was his final great season. It's unlikely he has another.

👀 looks like Travis Kelce might be thinking about retirement pic.twitter.com/oSjpnIWpF5

— Just Cece 🏈 (@JustCeceSports) March 20, 2024

The reality is that he was probably seriously considering retirement before the season, but the motivation of possibly winning another Super Bowl ring (and collecting an extremely sufficient salary) helped him make the decision to return. And by all means, it looks like the Chiefs are headed for another championship.

Happy 35th birthday, Travis Kelce!

His career stats, including postseason:

• 12 seasons (163 games)
• 1,087 catches
• 13,389 receiving yards
• 96 TDs
• 9x pro bowler
• 7x all-pro
• 3x SB champ pic.twitter.com/lskq6FyjFu

— NFL Stats (@NFL_Stats) October 5, 2024

His play has declined sharply, and it's been most apparent in his yards catch -- he had just 8.5 yards per grab this year after falling to 10.6 last year. Previously, it never sunk below 12.1. And he only caught three touchdowns despite playing in 16 games. His yards per target have fallen from 8.13 in 2023 to 6.2 this season. Previous to that, it was never below 8.4.

Tanking efficiency is never a good sign. Kelce's body likely cannot handle much more, so this should be his last ride.

Marcedes Lewis, TE, Chicago Bears

Yes, Lewis is still in the NFL despite being a ridiculous 40 years old. The seemingly ageless wonder has played in 272 games as a TE, which is an NFL record for the position. And he just completed his 19th season since being drafted in 2006. However, he recorded just one catch for two yards.

#DaBears backup TEs Marcedes Lewis & Gerald Everett:

15 targets, 9 catches, 38 yards, 1 drop

6 penalties (4 false starts, 2 holds) for -40 penalty yards

Total overall impact: -2 yards pic.twitter.com/esbaQikN7X

— Jeff Berckes (@gridironborn) January 8, 2025

He's been primarily used as a blocker and hasn't recorded many snaps, but his repeated penalization may push his team to let him go. And it's unlikely anyone else will jump to sign the 19th-year pro. It was a great career if you simply look at his longevity.

It's been surprising that he managed to get a roster spot this season at all. The TE position is incredibly difficult to master, and good blockers are a valuable asset to NFL teams. The problem is when poor receiving players become poor blockers, and that's the case here.

Taysom Hill, TE, New Orleans Saints

This may come as a surprise to some, but Hill is 34 now and suffered a devastating ACL tear in Week 13 of 2024. He's dealt with a number of injuries this season and missed significant time. The prognosis for players multiple years past the wrong side of 30 with serious knee damage occurring is grim.

Man…tough to watch this significant leg injury to Taysom Hill. Dude is baller. pic.twitter.com/6NX1IpQuBC

— WACHoopsNation (@WACHoopsNation) December 2, 2024

These injuries are gnarly. The angle at which Hill's leg bent makes it easy to understand how he damaged other ligaments as well. He'll likely miss most, if not all, of the 2025 regular season and return late in the season at the age of 35, to then try to play again in 2026. It's unlikely he'll ever be the same as he was before.

Medical science has advanced massively, but we still see even young players with ACL tears suffer further complications. For example, Carolina Panthers running back Jonathon Brooks (knee) re-tearing his ACL over a year after the initial tear, and New York Jets RB Breece Hall continuing to deal with knee issues on the leg in which he tore his ACL in 2022.

Jimmy Graham, TE, Free Agent

Graham is now 37 years old. In his last three seasons, he wasn't even on a team in 2022, played in 13 games and caught just six of his seven targets for 39 yards and four touchdowns in 2023, and again didn't play a snap of football and wasn't on a team in 2024. He was reportedly mulling retirement before the 2024 season.

Jimmy Graham really said, “alright I’m gonna head out” after this game ending TD. Reporters at the game didn’t see him come back out of the tunnel.

pic.twitter.com/gnhQOEHTQ7

— Ari Meirov (@MySportsUpdate) January 11, 2021

He had a stellar career with a ton of highlight-reel plays and was a crucial part of the Saints' explosive offensive attacks with quarterback Drew Brees and head coach Sean Payton... over 10 years ago. He never quite returned to that form and hasn't been a big part of any passing offense since 2017, though he did catch eight touchdowns in 2020.

But that was four years ago. Even if he doesn't retire, it's unlikely a team will sign him again.

Logan Thomas, TE, Free Agent

Thomas is the least accomplished of the players in this piece, but like the rest of them, he's at least a few years on the wrong side of 30 years old. He didn't record any statistics in 2024 but didn't make it through any team's final cuts to 53-man rosters this year.

I look forward to Scott Turner using Logan Thomas more on these plays 👀👀

Former college QB with that throw to Terry McLaurin.

Also - quit sleeping on McLaurinF1.
If age is your only argument, we’re going to start an Age-cut off for fantasy football analyst peak years. pic.twitter.com/bFLTHFlAL5

— Jeff Mueller, PT, DPT (@jmthrivept) March 7, 2021

He was a former quarterback in college but only attempted 11 passes in his NFL career, completing just three of them for 124 yards and a TD. QBs playing into their mid-to-late 30s isn't unheard of, but Thomas doesn't seem to have much value at that position, and the fact that he wasn't signed at all after 2024 roster trimmings isn't a good sign.

And this year's tight end crop from the upcoming 2025 NFL Draft class is looking very deep, with stars like Penn State Nittany Lions TE Tyler Warren and Michigan Wolverines TE Colston Loveland (by the way, draft him in your fantasy leagues, he's a great route-runner and that's what matters).

Thomas is unlikely to make his way back onto a team, so he should hang 'em up.

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