Chiefs owner Clark Hunt offered his predictions amid updates on Patrick Mahomes’ injury and Travis Kelce’s future…

The 2025 NFL season was forgettable, to say the least, for the usually dominant Kansas City Chiefs, as the storied franchise limped to the finish line with a record of 6-11 and superstar quarterback Patrick Mahomes suffering a season-ending knee injury.

With Mahomes suffering a torn ACL so late in the 2025 campaign, there’s been a lot of concern about when he’ll be able to get back on the field for the Chiefs.

Obviously, Kansas City will want to be extremely cautious with Mahomes’ recovery, even though the three-time Super Bowl champion has been adamant about returning sooner rather than later, claiming he aims to be ready for Week 1 of the 2026 NFL season.

GettyKansas City Chiefs owner and CEO Clark Hunt celebrates with Patrick Mahomes

During an appearance on Good Morning Football on Tuesday, team owner Clark Hunt talked about Mahomes’ recovery from the season-ending knee surgery as the NFL offseason gets underway for the Chiefs.

“I was with Patrick a couple of days ago in our training room, watching him go through the work that he’s doing to get back on the field with the rehab,” Hunt said of Mahomes. “And nobody works harder than Patrick.

“He certainly has a goal of being back for the beginning of the season. I wouldn’t put it past him. He’s somebody in the past who’s healed very quickly. And again, his work ethic I think gives him a huge advantage in getting back and being ready to play in 2026.”

It’ll be tough for Mahomes to be 100 percent healthy for Week 1 while coming back from knee surgery, but it’s also hard to say that the two-time NFL MVP quarterback can’t do something that he sets his mind to.

Along with Mahomes recovering from the knee injury, fellow Chiefs superstar Travis Kelce is in the process of making a decision about his immediate future. He’s debating whether to return for another season in Kansas City or call it a career, marry pop star Taylor Swift and head into retirement after a Hall-of-Fame-caliber career in the NFL.

Hunt also talked about Kelce’s upcoming decision on whether he’ll retire or return for the 2026 campaign.

“As an organization, we certainly hope he will come back,” Hunt said of Kelce’s decision. “He had another great year, maybe not on par with where he was four or five years ago, but still had over 800 yards and was really one of the leaders on the offensive side of the ball for us.

So there’s no doubt in my mind that he can still play.

“We’re trying to be respectful to give him the time that he needs to make a decision. He has sort of a busy offseason coming up with his engagement and marriage, so we want to be respectful and give him the time that he needs to make the decision, but we certainly hope he’ll be back.”

As Hunt points out, Kelce didn’t have the kind of season he’s used to, but he’s still a productive tight end and a valued part of the Chiefs franchise.

Only time will tell what Kelce decides to do and if he returns, whether he’ll be receiving passes from Mahomes right out of the gate.