It is presently unclear whether Jason Kelce will return to the Eagles for another season.
In the wake of the team’s playoff loss in January, we heard that Kelce would call it a career, but several weeks later, the future Hall of Famer himself suggested he was still undecided on his future.
Now 36, the six-time first-team All-Pro center is at least exploring his post-playing career, as Michael McCarthy of Front Office Sports details.
Per McCarthy, Kelce recently met with ESPN and Fox to discuss the possibility of some sort of on-air role, though those talks were described as preliminary. McCarthy adds that Kelce has met with Amazon Prime Video about a spot on its "Thursday Night Football" crew.
McCarthy’s sources say that NBC and CBS are also expected to have interest if Kelce officially hangs up the cleats, so it sounds as if he will have no shortage of television options if he chooses to go that route.
Although he has long been one of the best pivots in the game, the relentless media coverage of brother Travis Kelce‘s relationship with Taylor Swift, along with Jason’s memorable antics during the Chiefs’ divisional-round victory over the Bills this year, have made the older Kelce brother a recognizable face among the public at large.
And the "New Heights" podcast that Jason and Travis co-host is, as McCarthy observes, one of the most popular sports podcasts in the country.
Jason, who has contemplated retirement for several years now, is out of a contract, having just finished the one-year, $14.25M deal he signed last March (one day after he announced he would return to the Eagles).
If he decides to continue playing in 2024, he and the Eagles will need to work out a new pact, but negotiations between the two sides would likely be quick and painless.
If he instead opts to leverage his newfound visibility into a full-time media career, Philadelphia would presumably shift 2022 draftee Cam Jurgens to center (Jurgens was the club’s starting right guard in 2023, though he missed some time due to a foot injury.)
Of course, Jason’s acceptance of a broadcaster/analyst post could impact his stated desire to remain with the Eagles in a front-office or coaching capacity.
More must-reads: