{"id":173386,"date":"2026-04-06T01:00:39","date_gmt":"2026-04-06T01:00:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=173386"},"modified":"2026-04-06T01:00:39","modified_gmt":"2026-04-06T01:00:39","slug":"%f0%9f%9a%a8-future-in-place-chiefs-find-perfect-travis-kelce-replacement-in-latest-mock-a-new-era-may-be-closer-than-expected-%f0%9f%91%87-kansas-citys-next-star-the-ideal-succes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=173386","title":{"rendered":"\ud83d\udea8 FUTURE IN PLACE: Chiefs Find Perfect Travis Kelce Replacement in Latest Mock \u2014 A New Era May Be Closer Than Expected \ud83d\udc47 Kansas City\u2019s Next Star: The Ideal Successor to Kelce Emerges \u2014 Could This Be the Move That Secures the Chiefs\u2019 Future?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The Kansas City Chiefs know that tight end Travis Kelce will eventually retire, but\u00a0it just won&#8217;t be this season.<\/p>\n<p>So, the franchise has to think of what life will be like without the future Hall of Famer in the lineup, which is nightmare fuel for most.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/library.sportingnews.com\/styles\/crop_style_16_9_desktop_webp\/s3\/2026-01\/USATSI_27904339.jpg.webp?itok=Juob-Omp\" alt=\"Chiefs land ideal Travis Kelce replacement in latest mock | Sporting News\" \/><\/p>\n<p>But general manager Brett Veach has a good nose for talent, so the Chiefs will be on the lookout for Travis&#8217; replacement.<\/p>\n<p>And in Nick Shook&#8217;s latest mock draft for NFL.com, the Chiefs land the best tight end in the class, with Oregon&#8217;s\u00a0Kenyon Sadiq being selected.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Congratulations, Chiefs fans,&#8221; Shook said. &#8220;The top tight end and best long-term replacement for Travis Kelce is still on the board when the time comes for your team to make a selection. Cornerback could use an addition, but GM Brett Veach can\u2019t pass up the opportunity to add a freakishly athletic TE to a team that has won championships in part by relying on the position.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p><strong>More<\/strong>:\u00a0Bills address most problematic position in latest mock draft<\/p>\n<h2>Sadiq the ideal Kelce replacement?<\/h2>\n<p>He could be. Sadiq possesses the athletic traits that will make him a nightmare to defend, and when you have Patrick Mahomes throwing him the ball, good things will happen.<\/p>\n<p>Plus, what Kenyon will learn from Kelce over the course of a season will be priceless. He will get the ins and outs before taking over the position in 2027.<\/p>\n<p>Yes, the Chiefs don&#8217;t want Kelce to retire, but selecting his replacement a year before he does (we think) is a great move.<\/p>\n<p>And in Sadiq, the Chiefs get the best tight end in the class to add to Mahomes&#8217; weaponry.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/s.yimg.com\/ny\/api\/res\/1.2\/BGvxvd1qm6miM7O4uTOv8A--\/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjt3PTY0MDtoPTQyNjtjZj13ZWJw\/https:\/\/media.zenfs.com\/en\/roundtable_sports_kansas_city_chiefs_articles_857\/3260207726b0c722cb80a989f1ed843c\" alt=\"Chiefs Predicted To Select Travis Kelce Replacement In New Mock Draft -  Yahoo Sports\" \/><\/p>\n<h2>More NFL news:<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>Chargers select Keenan Allen replacement in latest mock draft<\/li>\n<li>Browns&#8217; QB saga taking an odd twist<\/li>\n<li>Ravens have Lamar Jackson in mind with ideal draft pick<\/li>\n<li>Jets&#8217; Aaron Glenn makes stunning Geno Smith revelation<\/li>\n<li>Browns owner makes intriguing starting QB statement<\/li>\n<li>Analyst offers ominous 2026 warning for Buccaneers&#8217; Todd Bowles<\/li>\n<li>Colts GM sees huge upside for 1 player after Michael Pittman Jr. move<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Kansas City Chiefs know that tight end Travis Kelce will eventually retire, but\u00a0it just won&#8217;t be this season. So, the franchise has to think of what&#8230; <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":173387,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-173386","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nfl"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>\ud83d\udea8 FUTURE IN PLACE: Chiefs Find Perfect Travis Kelce Replacement in Latest Mock \u2014 A New Era May Be Closer Than Expected \ud83d\udc47 Kansas City\u2019s Next Star: The Ideal Successor to Kelce Emerges \u2014 Could This Be the Move That Secures the Chiefs\u2019 Future? - NEWS USA<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=173386\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"\ud83d\udea8 FUTURE IN PLACE: Chiefs Find Perfect Travis Kelce Replacement in Latest Mock \u2014 A New Era May Be Closer Than Expected \ud83d\udc47 Kansas City\u2019s Next Star: The Ideal Successor to Kelce Emerges \u2014 Could This Be the Move That Secures the Chiefs\u2019 Future? - NEWS USA\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The Kansas City Chiefs know that tight end Travis Kelce will eventually retire, but\u00a0it just won&#8217;t be this season. So, the franchise has to think of what...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=173386\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"NEWS USA\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-04-06T01:00:39+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/avtnew-21.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1080\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1080\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"MrThanh\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"MrThanh\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=173386\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=173386\",\"name\":\"\ud83d\udea8 FUTURE IN PLACE: Chiefs Find Perfect Travis Kelce Replacement in Latest Mock \u2014 A New Era May Be Closer Than Expected \ud83d\udc47 Kansas City\u2019s Next Star: The Ideal Successor to Kelce Emerges \u2014 Could This Be the Move That Secures the Chiefs\u2019 Future? - NEWS USA\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=173386#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=173386#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/avtnew-21.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-04-06T01:00:39+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-04-06T01:00:39+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/#\/schema\/person\/850fd1b8bcb1d322b7f0a04b3d2f18ec\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=173386#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=173386\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=173386#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/avtnew-21.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/avtnew-21.jpg\",\"width\":1080,\"height\":1080},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=173386#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"\ud83d\udea8 FUTURE IN PLACE: Chiefs Find Perfect Travis Kelce Replacement in Latest Mock \u2014 A New Era May Be Closer Than Expected \ud83d\udc47 Kansas City\u2019s Next Star: The Ideal Successor to Kelce Emerges \u2014 Could This Be the Move That Secures the Chiefs\u2019 Future?\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/\",\"name\":\"NEWS USA\",\"description\":\"Your Daily Dose of Sports News and Updates\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/#\/schema\/person\/850fd1b8bcb1d322b7f0a04b3d2f18ec\",\"name\":\"MrThanh\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8c8f2d90ff2a21a61a5e6bc0619622a5021fc65353885d9d7b3db1c8c7c1ca8d?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8c8f2d90ff2a21a61a5e6bc0619622a5021fc65353885d9d7b3db1c8c7c1ca8d?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"MrThanh\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?author=6\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"\ud83d\udea8 FUTURE IN PLACE: Chiefs Find Perfect Travis Kelce Replacement in Latest Mock \u2014 A New Era May Be Closer Than Expected \ud83d\udc47 Kansas City\u2019s Next Star: The Ideal Successor to Kelce Emerges \u2014 Could This Be the Move That Secures the Chiefs\u2019 Future? - NEWS USA","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=173386","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"\ud83d\udea8 FUTURE IN PLACE: Chiefs Find Perfect Travis Kelce Replacement in Latest Mock \u2014 A New Era May Be Closer Than Expected \ud83d\udc47 Kansas City\u2019s Next Star: The Ideal Successor to Kelce Emerges \u2014 Could This Be the Move That Secures the Chiefs\u2019 Future? - NEWS USA","og_description":"The Kansas City Chiefs know that tight end Travis Kelce will eventually retire, but\u00a0it just won&#8217;t be this season. So, the franchise has to think of what...","og_url":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=173386","og_site_name":"NEWS USA","article_published_time":"2026-04-06T01:00:39+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1080,"height":1080,"url":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/avtnew-21.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"MrThanh","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"MrThanh","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=173386","url":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=173386","name":"\ud83d\udea8 FUTURE IN PLACE: Chiefs Find Perfect Travis Kelce Replacement in Latest Mock \u2014 A New Era May Be Closer Than Expected \ud83d\udc47 Kansas City\u2019s Next Star: The Ideal Successor to Kelce Emerges \u2014 Could This Be the Move That Secures the Chiefs\u2019 Future? - NEWS USA","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=173386#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=173386#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/avtnew-21.jpg","datePublished":"2026-04-06T01:00:39+00:00","dateModified":"2026-04-06T01:00:39+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/#\/schema\/person\/850fd1b8bcb1d322b7f0a04b3d2f18ec"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=173386#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=173386"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=173386#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/avtnew-21.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/avtnew-21.jpg","width":1080,"height":1080},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=173386#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"\ud83d\udea8 FUTURE IN PLACE: Chiefs Find Perfect Travis Kelce Replacement in Latest Mock \u2014 A New Era May Be Closer Than Expected \ud83d\udc47 Kansas City\u2019s Next Star: The Ideal Successor to Kelce Emerges \u2014 Could This Be the Move That Secures the Chiefs\u2019 Future?"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/","name":"NEWS USA","description":"Your Daily Dose of Sports News and Updates","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/#\/schema\/person\/850fd1b8bcb1d322b7f0a04b3d2f18ec","name":"MrThanh","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8c8f2d90ff2a21a61a5e6bc0619622a5021fc65353885d9d7b3db1c8c7c1ca8d?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8c8f2d90ff2a21a61a5e6bc0619622a5021fc65353885d9d7b3db1c8c7c1ca8d?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"MrThanh"},"url":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?author=6"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/173386","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=173386"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/173386\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":173388,"href":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/173386\/revisions\/173388"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/173387"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=173386"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=173386"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=173386"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}