The Kansas City Chiefs are looking to get back to the Super Bowl next season. The Chiefs have that bad taste in their mouth still, and it will stay there all of next season. The Chiefs fell a game short of making history, but will look to make more history next season. One reason that the Chiefs will be contenders next season is the return of future Hall of Fame tight end Travis Kelce.

After last season, the Chiefs did not know if Kelce was going to return for the 2025 season. He was between the lines of retiring and playing another season. Now we know that Kelce will at least play one more season with the Chiefs, and he wants it to be a great one.

With the Chiefs not knowing if Kelce is going to come back after the 2025 season, they have started looking for another tight end to learn from Kelce and see if he can develop to be the next tight end after Kelce leaves.

The tight end that the Chiefs went after was Jake Briningstool out of Clemson. But the Chiefs did not take him in the 2025 NFL Draft; instead, they signed him as an undrafted free agent. Briningstool was surprised by who was on the other line when he received the call from the Chiefs. And that was Chiefs head coach Andy Reid.

“That was pretty unique to here, which really stood out to me, just showing how much they valued me, how much they cared,” Briningstool said this week during the Chiefs’ annual rookie minicamp. “So I think that’s really what stood out about here.”

“Just talking to Coach Reid on the phone, I think he laid out a great plan for me. Just the situation, being able to come in here and learn from a great tight end room, and just be able to take full advantage of that opportunity,” Briningstool said. “I think also, this offense, I think it fits my skill-set, stuff I do really well. So I’m glad to be here and excited to go to work.”

“I think just being around a championship culture, being around a championship team — guys that compete at a high level, guys that love to win — I think that’s really what attracted me the most (to KC),” Briningstool said. “Just being able to come in here and compete with guys who have done it at the highest level and also been very successful. And a team that competes for championships, I think, is something I want to be a part of.”