Chiefs adding Cowboys Peyton Hendershot in case Travis Kelce retires

the Kansas City Chiefs are adding a new tight end to their roster the team has agreed to a trade to acquire Dallas Cowboys tight end Payton Hendershot the Cowboys are receiving a 2026 conditional seventh round pick in return for the tight end Hendershot made the NFL in 2022 as an undrafted free agent and has played a smaller role with the Cowboys in his two years with the team he caught 11 passes for 103 yards and two touchdowns in 2022 but only had four catches in 2023 for 38 yards the 25-year-old has appeared in 25 games over the last two seasons playing a lot of special teams with the Cowboys Hendershot will immediately move into a backup role to Travis Kelce in a tight end room that is fairly crowded the Chiefs already have an established number two in Noah gray and also have names like Jared Wy or Smith and Baylor Cup on the roster some of those names are expected to be cut by the start of the season but Hendershot will still see limited playing time due to those ahead of him while Hendershot is coming into a mostly reserved role many fans are speculating he wasn't traded for to make an immediate impact some think that Hendershot could be an option for when Kelsey's retirement eventually comes Kelsey is under contract through the 2025 season and Hendershot could be an option for the Chiefs for when he leaves Kelsey Gan one fan said I think everyone knows he's probably got a year or two left especially if things start getting more serious with Taylor another fan said Travis Kelsey's replacement a third fan said yeah he's becoming Kelsey 2.0 a fourth fan said Kelsey has spoken about his eventual retirement at this year's training camp saying he wants to play until he physically can't anymore I'm going to keep playing until the wheels fall off hopefully that's not anytime soon he said it's clear that I'm closer to the end of my career than the beginning I need to ensure I'm prepared for Life After football as well Kelsey is already lining up his plans for Life After football starring in TV shows and upcoming movies in the future