Shopping for free agent quarterback options for the Chiefs
By Scott Loring
As the Kansas City Chiefs enter the offseason before starter Patrick Mahomes‘ age-25 year, the expectations are the same as last season – be the best quarterback in the league and win the Super Bowl. The difference now is, we have seen him do it.
There is perhaps no better football player on the planet than Mahomes. He is the consummate leader, and if the league were to scrap everything and re-draft every player, he would be any team’s #1 overall pick. Unlike years past, Chiefs Kingdom does not have to even discuss who the starting quarterback is. It’s not up for debate. It’s not even a question.
He’s ours, Kansas City.
However, as we learned in 2019, backup quarterback is arguably one of the top five most important roles on a football team. And while it’s been in comfortable hands in years past with Chad Henne, the fact remains that his contract is up. Reserve Matt Moore, who signed a one-year deal last summer, is also without a contract.
The team has stated that they will not retain both. Will they go with Henne, who has significantly more experience in this system, or Moore, who performed when given an opportunity? Or will they start over in their path toward depth at the game’s most important position?
In their assembly of the roster in the last two seasons, the team has preferred to keep two quarterbacks on the active roster instead of three, except for the end of the 2019 season when Henne did return. Reid clearly preferred to insure Mahomes’ injury status with both veteran backups instead of leaving just one behind a player who had just suffered a dislocated knee. Will they continue that pattern?
And at what point will they decide to draft and develop a young backup under Mahomes? Surely when your expectation is to win a Super Bowl, you cannot assemble a roster that will collapse without one player. For the sake of the long-term success of this football team, the organization needs to have a plan in place that protects the team from completely sinking without Mahomes at the helm.
There is a perpetual question at backup quarterback that revolves around either not spending enough money on a reserve, or overpaying a borderline starter. Let’s take a quick peek at some options if the Chiefs were to look outside for a #2 quarterback in 2020.