Shopping for free agent quarterback options for the Chiefs
By Scott Loring
With free agency looming in just two short weeks, a list of productive players are set to hit the market. What if the Chiefs decided to invest significant money into the position in 2020? Anyone who even makes the trip to talk to Chiefs brass would indicate that they would accept a role as a backup. So you can probably cross off each of the top-tier quarterbacks such as Drew Brees, Tom Brady, Philip Rivers, Jameis Winston, and Ryan Tannehill. In the instance any of those players do hit the open market, they will be looking for a team that wants them to start.
The window in which the Chiefs could look high for a backup signal caller would be a player with starting experience who is hungry to be a part of a winner. He might take a little less money to play behind Mahomes and learn from Reid. Age doesn’t matter as much as his cohesion with Reid and Mahomes, and the moxie to be able to step in at any time and lead the offense. There are a few players who fit that category:
Chase Daniel
Chase Daniel makes a lot of sense for Kansas City. The 11-year veteran has played for Reid and the Chiefs before. He has ties to the area, as a star at the University of Missouri from 2005-2008 (coincidentally, his first collegiate game was actually played at Arrowhead Stadium). He has a Super Bowl ring, but he was up and down from that 2009 Saints roster and probably has more of a hunger to play for a team to give him a shot at another ring than he does to become a starter at this point in his career.
The 33-year-old Daniel made $5 million in 2019 as Mitchell Trubisky‘s backup in Chicago, and he probably would sign for a similar amount with another team. He doesn’t have the strongest arm, but he’s extremely accurate. The 6’0″ 230-lb. Daniel would give Mahomes another veteran voice in the quarterback room and would give the Chiefs a chance if he was called upon in a pinch. Daniel’s ceiling isn’t as high as other options, but his floor is better than most. You probably aren’t going to get a Pro Bowl performance, but you know he’s not going to embarrass himself, either.
Marcus Mariota
The thought of adding the 6’4″ 215 lb. Marcus Mariota may cause die hard Chiefs fans to squirm. No fan worth their salt has forgotten the playoff loss to Mariota’s Titans in January of 2018. However, all demons have been exorcised, and the game is a business. Mariota is almost assuredly out in Tennessee, and while he could potentially look for a new starting gig somewhere, the situation may not present itself to him in 2020. Instead of gambling on a chance in a training camp competition, he could benefit from a year or two biding his time in Kansas City and recalibrating his approach to the game.
Still just 26-years-old, the Hawaiian started 6 games in 2019 while completing 95/160 attempts for 1,203 yards and seven touchdowns. Mariota compares favorably to former Chief Alex Smith, as a pass-first quarterback who can still get out of the pocket and move. The 2014 Heisman Trophy winner still has a higher ceiling than most available options at quarterback, and a new setting with lowered expectations may be just what Mariota needs to get his career back on track.
Case Keenum
The 32-year-old Case Keenum is probably done as a full-time starter in the league, but make no mistake about it. Keenum has the experience you want in a backup and the hunger for a ring. In 2016, Keenum was benched in Los Angeles in favor of rookie Jared Goff. He would then sign in 2017 with the Vikings, leading them to the NFC Championship Game while throwing for 3,547 yards and 22 touchdowns.
Keenum then signed with Denver but mostly disappointed in his one season as a Bronco before being traded in 2019 to Washington, who promptly drafted Dwayne Haskins in the first round. Keenum began the season as the starter, but went back and forth on the merry-go-round as Washington changed head coaches and clearly did not have direction in 2019.
Keenum would become one of the league’s very best backups if he is willing to join a team in that capacity. He threw for 19,217 and 155 touchdowns in college, and has a career passer rating of 85.3 in the NFL. He’s not as mobile as the other quarterbacks mentioned above, but he’s a skilled passer and most importantly, he can still win games in this league.