Champion goalkicker Franklin made the decision to hang up his well-worn boots days after sustaining a calf injury in round 20.
It came halfway through a six-match winning streak that completed the Swans' late-season revival and booked their ticket to September.
At Monday's AFL finals launch, Kennedy joked coach John Longmire would have to pull Franklin out of retirement for the major round.
But the former Swans skipper wound back his comments when pressed further on the subject.
"When he makes a call like that, it's firm and he knows what he's doing," Kennedy said of Franklin.
"I just think from a Swans point of view, when you've got a champion like that, you'd love to have him out there come September."
Grand finalists last year, Sydney were rocked by injuries early this season and slumped to a 3-6 start.
They sat as low as 15th after round 17 before embarking on a winning run that carried them into the eight.
The Swans take on Carlton in an elimination final at the MCG on Friday night.
"They've shown an incredible amount of resilience, which they always do, to be able to fight it out and scrap their way back into the September action," Kennedy said.
"Now they've had another week off to freshen up and anything's possible."
Kennedy is this year's AFL premiership cup ambassador.
The 35-year-old played in the Swans' 2012 premiership, as well as grand final defeats in 2014 and 2016, during a decorated 290-game career.
Kennedy retired last August after suffering a hamstring injury before the finals series.
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