Last month, Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni said on WIP that he sent Jason Kelce two kegs of beer to convince him to return for the 2022 season.
Sirianni was joking. Unless he wasn’t.
“Well, you know, I think there might be something in the works,” Kelce said on Thursday in Los Angeles. “I’ve been back and forth, I haven’t been home that much. But when I get back there, we’ll see.”
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Kelce spoke with NBC Sports Philadelphia’s John Clark for the Takeoff podcast on Thursday from Southern California before the NFL Honors awards presentation. Kelce, 34, was the Eagles’ nominee for the Walter Payton Man of the Year award.
The WPMOY ended up going to Rams tackle Andrew Whitworth, but Kelce was honored not just to be with the group of 32 nominees but to be the nominee from an Eagles team that has several worthy players.
Of course, the thing everyone wants to know is about Kelce’s future. Will he return for another NFL season or will he hang ‘em up?
“Everybody wants to know, including me,” Kelce said. “I’m still trying to figure that out. I just think it comes down to, I definitely want to play. It just comes down to whether or not I think I can dedicate myself to doing it the right way and the way it needs to be done. If I can do that, I’ll play. If I can’t, that will be it.
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“But I’m going to step away for a couple weeks and really try to evaluate. Just get away from the emotion of everything and see if I can do that again.”
Kelce has a strong relationship with the Eagles’ front office and will likely want to make his decision in a way that gives the organization plenty of time to come up with a plan if he does decide to retire. If he comes back, the two sides will need to iron out a new contract, but that shouldn’t be too big of an issue.
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In recent seasons, Kelce has dealt with a lot of injuries but said his body feels relatively good after 2021, aside from a few aches and pains.
But Kelce is in a good spot physically and mentally coming off the 2021 season.
“Yeah, I would say great spot,” Kelce said. “We finished off the season really well outside of the playoff game. Right after the playoff game, if I’m being really honest, I thought, ‘Is that really going to be my last game? And do I really want that to be my last game?’ But that’s what I mean by stepping away from the emotion. Because the reality is unless you win the Super Bowl, you don’t end on a happy note.
“We’ll see. I don’t know where I’m at to be honest with you. I’m all over the place in my head but I do love playing, I love me teammates, I love the city. If I’m going to stop doing that, it better be worth it.”