Travis Kelce looking on (left). Aaron Donald looking ahead (right).
Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce had an interesting message to share for the now-retired Aaron Donald.

On Friday, Donald announced that he was retiring from football after a legendary 10-year career that he spent entirely with the Los Angeles Rams. Donald walks away as a three-time Defensive Player of the Year, 10-time Pro Bowler and Super Bowl 56 champion with 111 career sacks and 24 forced fumbles.

Donald actually pondered retirement after the Rams defeated the Cincinnati Bengals in the Super Bowl, but he wound up agreeing to a contract extension. So ultimately, Donald’s retirement wasn’t the biggest surprise, even if he still had plenty of great football left in him.

Speaking on the latest edition of the “New Heights” podcast that he hosts with older brother Jason Kelce, Travis had a fascinating message for Aaron Donald: There’s a spot on the Kansas City roster, if he’d like to join them late in the season:

“Shout-out to AD, unbelievable career. If you want to win one more Super Bowl, we’ll probably have some availability somewhere in December.”


Aaron Donald may be retired now, but of course there’s the possibility that he’ll miss the game too much and look to return. Tom Brady, Rob Gronkowski and Deion Sanders are just a handful of the many all-time greats who went back on their initial retirement words.

Aaron Donald, who turns 33 years of age in May, had eight sacks, 16 tackles for loss and three pass breakups in his final NFL season.

Aaron Donald & Kansas City Would Be Unfair

The Chiefs have won two straight Super Bowls and three of the last five. They already have football’s best defensive tackle (now that Donald’s retired) in Chris Jones. Now imagine if they added Aaron Donald to the roster?

It would be absolutely bonkers and completely unfair for the rest of the NFL. Both Jones and Aaron Donald have made compelling cases to be regarded as the best defensive player of the 21st century. Those two playing together would be an absolute nightmare for the other 31 teams.