Travis Kelce mysteriously pulls out of NFL’s Pro Bowl on Super Bowl week citing ‘injury’

Travis Kelce has been mysteriously removed from the NFL’s Pro Bowl next month.

On Friday afternoon, the Buffalo Bills confirmed that their own tight end Dalton Kincaid had been called up for the Pro Bowl as a replacement for Kelce.

But, in an interesting twist, Bills beat writer Jay Skurski claimed that Kincaid had been named as an ‘injury replacement’ for the Kansas City Chiefs tight end.

Prior to the announcement, there had been no news that Kelce had suffered an injury. The tight end has not stepped onto the field since the Chiefs’ defeat on January 4th. 

After Kansas City failed to reach the playoffs this season, there have been vicious rumors that Kelce is considering retirement and many fans had hoped to catch a glimpse of what could have been his final ever game at this year’s Pro Bowl.

The 2026 Pro Bowl Games will be held on Tuesday, February 3 at 8 p.m. ET – just six days before the highly-anticipated Super Bowl LX. 

However, despite concerns among fans that he could be hanging up his cleats, Kelce recently dropped a subtle hint that he could be returning to Kansas City in summer. 

The Chiefs have seen a major upheaval in recent weeks with a number of key figures on Andy Reid’s staff already leaving their post in recent weeks, including offensive coordinator Matt Nagy – who has been chasing a head coaching role. 

However, the return of beloved coach Eric Bieniemy – in Nagy’s place – to Chiefs Kingdom may have swayed Kelce into returning for another season.  

‘I can’t wait to see [Bieniemy] back in the building man,’ Kelce said on New Heights. ‘He’s one of my favorite coaches of all time. One of my favorite people of all time. 

‘I’ve had so many unbelievable growing moments under him as a player, as a person. I just love the guy and it’s going to be awesome to see him back in the building and see him back wearing the Chiefs logo.’ 

Bieniemy coached the Bears’ running backs in 2025 following stints with UCLA (2024) and the Commanders (2023) after 10 years working alongside Reid at Kansas City.

Kelce’s comments convinced many fans online that it appeared he would also be back in the Chiefs’ building alongside Bieniemy next season.

‘EB and who he is as a coach, you can kinda see his personality, what he brings to the table in that Chicago team,’ Kelce also gushed. 

‘[Chicago head coach] Ben Johnson has his own version of that, he’s a very tough guy and what he did in Detroit he brought over as well. You can see in those running backs over in Chicago and their body of work was definitely an Eric Biennemy style of football. ‘

More to follow…