Philadelphia Eagles All-Pro center Jason Kelce will decide in the weeks ahead whether he wants to play another NFL season or retire.
Kelce likely will make a final decision before the new league year begins next month, and the Eagles would like to have his decision by then as well. But according to league sources, the possibility exists that Super Bowl LVII on Sunday might be the final NFL game of Kelce’s decorated NFL career.
“I know it’s coming,” Kelce said last week during a media availability session. “It’s getting closer and closer each day. I’m just trying to enjoy this moment now and attack that when it gets here.”
Kelce, 35, has mulled retirement during each of the past several offseasons, deciding each time that he wanted to continue playing. After 12 seasons — all with the Eagles — Kelce again will take time to process whether he can put his body through another year of the demands of the NFL.
After flirting with retirement last offseason, Kelce returned to the Eagles on a one-year, $14 million deal that made him the NFL’s highest-paid center.
The six-time Pro Bowler said he doesn’t believe that the result of Sunday’s game will influence his decision.
“From everything I’ve been told about when you know it’s time to retire or not, you just know when you know, and it’s going to be when you don’t want to play football anymore,” Kelce said. “And I don’t think that winning this game is going to determine whether I want to continue playing football or not.”
Kelce, coming off another first-team All-Pro season, still is playing at a high enough level to continue his NFL career, but the Eagles also are prepared if he chooses to retire.
While the Eagles have put together a deep roster, they still have two first-round draft picks this year and two second-round picks in 2024. Philadelphia also used a second-round pick last April on Cam Jurgens, who is in place to take over for Kelce once he retires.
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