Nate Burleson says he wants Travis Kelce on CBS after his playing career

Kansas City Chiefs fans are getting a new talking point about Travis Kelce’s post-NFL future, and it comes from one of the NFL’s most recognizable media voices. Nate Burleson, a CBS Sports contributor, said he would like to see Kelce land a role with CBS when Kelce is done playing, tying the idea to the next chapter of his career.

Kelce, who has been with the Chiefs throughout his NFL tenure, is one of the league’s most accomplished and most marketable skill players. His on-field production has been paired for years with an ability to translate the game to a broad audience, which is part of why the prospect of him moving into national media is being discussed. Burleson’s comments reinforce that the network conversation around Kelce is not limited to fans.

The discussion also intersects with contract timing and free-agency context. According to the way the current report is framed, Kelce had not experienced unrestricted free agency during his time in the NFL. It adds that he nearly reached that point this spring, but reportedly came to an agreement with the Chiefs just days before the start of the new league year in March.

In the NFL’s personnel business, that kind of near-miss matters even when no details are changed on the record. An agreement reached before the league year begins can limit disruption in a club’s offseason planning, while still keeping key leadership in place through training camp. Kelce’s situation is being treated as an example of how late-stage negotiations can prevent a player from reaching a more open market.

Burleson’s CBS angle also lands at a moment when NFL audiences have grown accustomed to former players taking prominent on-air roles. While the report centers on Burleson’s desire and interest, it does not, by itself, establish an agreement between Kelce and CBS. For now, the most concrete takeaway is that Kelce’s profile is large enough to generate real-time network interest well before any retirement decision.

What to watch next is whether this interest becomes a formal discussion later in the offseason, or whether additional voices in the NFL media ecosystem begin echoing similar sentiment. If Kelce’s playing status changes in any way, the conversation around his next job will likely accelerate, but until then it remains a pair of storylines: a high-profile on-air endorsement from Burleson, and a reminder that Kelce’s free-agency history has long been shaped by timely agreements.