Matt Moore, Chad Henne and a difficult decision at Chiefs quarterback

The Kansas City Chiefs have an interesting roster choice to make in the coming days about the quarterback slot behind Patrick Mahomes.

A good problem is still a problem, by definition, and the Kansas City Chiefs face one in the coming days at the quarterback position behind Patrick Mahomes.

Not only do the Chiefs employ the reigning NFL Most Valuable Player as their starting quarterback, but they now have a couple solid contenders to play the role of primary backup in Chad Henne and Matt Moore. The problem is that the Chiefs don’t seem too inclined to carry three-deep at quarterback on the active roster.

Every spot on the active roster is a prime bit of real estate, and this Chiefs team has seen first-hand the importance of being ready for injuries of every kind. The Chiefs have been beaten up in the trenches, at the game’s most important position, at their thinnest roster spot of cornerback and more. They’ve lost stars and backups and know that having healthy and talented players just in case is vital.

Back to quarterback then. Andy Reid might not be so keen on keeping around Chad Henne and/or Matt Moore on an active roster is Mahomes himself is fully recovered from both a dislocated kneecap and a sore ankle. If so, the question has to be asked: who is going to be let go?

Henne is the incumbent, the very player who has been around longest and was called upon to learn the system behind Mahomes for such an instance as these last two weeks. In fact, the Chiefs brought in both Henne and Moore in the same free agent tryout and came away convinced by Henne. Moore went on to leave his NFL playing days behind.

Then again, Moore is the one who has put up where it matters most: on the actual field. Henne himself is untested in Andy Reid’s system, but Moore has looked very solid in relief of Mahomes and even knocked off the Minnesota Vikings last week to go 1-1 as a starter against two Super Bowl hopefuls from the NFC. He’s completed 65% of his passes, thrown 4 touchdowns and kept interceptions to a minimum. His passer rating in the admittedly short sample size: 100.9.

It’s possible the Chiefs decide that being safe is better than being sorry. If so, then we might see both Henne and Moore carried on the active roster until the end of the season. Doing so keeps them from having that extra versatile lineman on either side of the ball or that special teams role player who comes in handy when it matters. But it might be the best way to honor the work of all involved.

Then again we might just see the heartless mechanics of the NFL as business once again as a player like Moore could go from starter to unemployed just like that. If so, it’ll be a cruel turn of events who earned every bit of admiration from Chiefs Kingdom during a short stint with the team.

Either way, the decisions before the Chiefs aren’t easy, even if it is a good problem to have.