There are aspects of Jason Kelce’s retirement that undermine the future Hall of Fame center.
“What I regret about retiring now is that I’m retiring at a time when the Eagles could have had the biggest collapse in organizational history. Not potentially, but probably most likely.” is.” Kelce said Wednesday on the “New Heights” podcast. He hosts alongside his brother Travis Kelce.
“The reason I’m upset about that is because I really, truly think the Eagles are going to be at their best next year.”
Kelce’s career ended when the Eagles went from a 10-1 powerhouse with the best odds to win the Super Bowl to a 32-9 loss to the Buccaneers in the wild-card round of the playoffs.
Philadelphia, looking to return to the Super Bowl for the second straight year, has lost six of its past seven games, including a loss in the playoffs.
The Eagles’ once-great offense failed to perform as expected, with quarterback Jalen Hurts leaving and the defense going through coordinator rounds to no avail.
“There’s still a huge amount of talent out there,” Kelce said. “They’ve hired two really good coaches who can provide a new perspective and look at things with a fresh lens.
“I think Jalen Hurts is a great quarterback. I know it wasn’t a great year-end for him or anyone on the offense, but there’s still a lot of missing pieces.”
The Eagles now enter the offseason with a lot of questions, especially with Kelce not returning and leaving a big hole up front.
Philadelphia is also preparing for the possible retirement of longtime defensive stalwart Fletcher Cox.
Kelce and Cox were the anchors of the Eagles’ continued success.
“There’s plenty of cap space,” Kelce said. “I know (general manager) Howie (Roseman) is going to make some moves to improve the things that need to be fixed.”
With the collapse and relative roster uncertainty, the Eagles have the eighth-best odds (17/1) to win the 2025 Super Bowl on FanDuel, behind fellow NFC contenders the 49ers, Cowboys, and Lions. became.
Expectations for the Eagles heading into the 2024 season may not be as high as they were last season, but Kelce still has faith in his former teammates.
“I really think the fightback from the Philadelphia Eagles is going to be outrageous next year, and it’s really heartbreaking,” Kelce said. “I’m still going to be a part of it in some way. I’m still going to go to the facility and help out as much as I can, but I’m also going to do other things and I’m not going to be active with them in the field. But , at least you can appreciate it from a distance. That’s one thing that’s very upsetting to me about the timing, but that’s the truth. I wish I could have enjoyed it in a different way.”
