KANSAS CITY, Mo. — A few days before Super Bowl LIX, Chiefs general manager Brett Veach sat in a ballroom inside the New Orleans Marriott and marveled over 35-year-old Travis Kelce — particularly when it comes to the playoffs.

When “the lights are the brightest,” he said, the “great ones know how to find that. They know where it’s buried, and they know how to access it.”

But as he considered the sheer wonder of a tight end who has the most postseason receptions (and, now, Super Bowl catches) in NFL history, he also framed the point in a striking context.

“I think we’ve all seen it over the last few years,” he said. “There’s a period throughout the season you’re like, ‘Ah, might be it.’ ”

In the wake of the 40-22 humbling administered by the Eagles on Sunday, the matter of that “might be it” for Kelce looms largest over the Chiefs’ offseason.

For all the personnel moves the team will contemplate and make, from free agency through the draft, nothing impending will be more momentous than whether they will have back one of the very best ever to play his position, and perhaps the most dynamic element of their culture — not to mention their brand and world-wide appeal.

Jarring as it might be for Chiefs fans to hear, you might want to brace yourself for a curtain call.

The end of an era is such a distinct possibility that it seems far more likely than not.

Take it from Kelce, who on his New Heights podcast released Wednesday sounded much more like someone trying to find reasons to return — hoping to convince himself — than a man craving more.

At one point, he said this: “If I do come back, it’s going to be something that it’s a wholehearted decision. …

“I think I could play; it’s just whether or not I’m motivated or it’s the best decision for me as a man, as a human, as a person, to take on all that responsibility.”

While he stressed that he’ll take his time to sort it out — “I’m kicking every can I can down the road,” he said — another snippet of the podcast particularly reverberated.

Because he fixated on the slog of proper preparation and his sense of being diminished.

“It’s a lot of time spent in the building, focusing on your craft, focusing on the task at hand, every challenge that you set up for yourself,” he said. “And that process can be grueling. It can weigh on you. It can make you better, and it could drive you crazy at the same time.

“And right now, it’s one of those things where it was kind of driving me crazy this year. And I think that it happens as you kind of tail off toward the back nine of your career as SVP (Scott Van Pelt of ESPN) would say.

“As you see yourself or not feel yourself have the success that you once used to have, man, it’s a tough pill to swallow. And then on top of that, to not be there in the biggest moments, knowing your team’s counting on you, man … It’s just a tough reality.”

The toughest reality check might be this:

After being revived by a bye week to enjoy a vintage postseason performance (seven catches for 117 yards and a touchdown) in the AFC divisional round game against Houston, Kelce had two catches for 19 yards against Buffalo in the AFC championship game and four catches for 39 yards in the Super Bowl.

Meaning his last two games combined were less productive than any single one of his previous 23 playoff games.

Meanwhile, even the mind-melding magic between Kelce and Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes was nowhere to be seen; they hardly ever seemed on the same wavelength during the Super Bowl.

Kelce struggled to get open (albeit with Mahomes under siege against Philadelphia’s pass rush), and they failed to connect on several elementary plays because of Mahomes either being a bit inaccurate or Kelce dropping the ball.

After a regular season in which his 97 catches went for 823 yards (the lowest since he had none in his injury-marred rookie year) on 8.5 yards a reception (nearly four yards below his career average), after a season when any eye test screamed that the elusive swivel-hipped bursts that defined his game were a thing of the past, no wonder he’s at an agonizing crossroads.

Still formidable.

Still a catalyst for team chemistry and practice habits.

But, alas, not what he once was.

Maybe nothing speaks more directly to that reality than this research from Kansas City Star colleague Sam McDowell after the Houston game: When Kelce avoided two tackles on a 49-yard reception against the Texans, he nearly matched his regular-season total (three). And his 33 yards after contact on that play were 15 yards more than he’d managed altogether after contact on his 97 regular-season catches in 2024.

As a richly deserving first-ballot Pro Football Hall of Famer with vital roles in three Super Bowl rings underscoring his thrilling career, Kelce certainly has zero left to prove.

And with career earnings of around $94 million, per Spotrac, it’s hard to know to what degree he’d be incentivized by the $17,250,000 he’s due this year.

Especially considering the podcast last year struck a three-year sponsorship deal worth more than $100 million, Variety reported.

Moreover, Kelce surely will have abundant show business opportunities before him, considering the world he’s living in now with girlfriend Taylor Swift and the persona he most compellingly demonstrated when he hosted Saturday Night Live after the 2022 season.

Naturally, he’s earned every right to go out on his own terms ... whenever that might be.

And few relish the sense of their own identity, camaraderie and shared journey to be found in football more than Kelce, who no doubt will be mournful about losing those connections whenever his time comes.

But the notion of going out on his terms also comes with something more attached to it.

It means reconciling his pride about what his ceiling would be as he turns 36 in October.

It’s probable his capacity will continue to ebb, and his productivity along with it.

All as the Chiefs’ passing game will feature receiver Xavier Worthy back after an exhilarating rookie season, receiver Rashee Rice returning from injury and the Chiefs presumably re-signing receiver Hollywood Brown.

In the process, Kelce’s role logically figures to become more of a secondary factor than the dynamic force who has been so riveting over the years.

All of that and a zillion other things must be swirling in Kelce’s mind right now.

And, sure, maybe he will convince himself he still wants more.

Just the same, this really might be it — as much as we all hope there’s another surge in him, and as much as we all want to see him go out with a more appropriately glorious ending.

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