Former Michigan quarterback Shea Patterson signs with Chiefs

The Kansas City Chiefs have signed former University of Michigan quarterback Shea Patterson to the roster, according to NFL reporter Tom Pelissero.

NFL reporter Tom Pelissero has word on the latest signing for the Kansas City Chiefs in former University of Michigan quarterback Shea Patterson.

Patterson comes to the Chiefs as a two-sport star who was also drafted to play baseball by the Texas Rangers. Patterson had 45 touchdowns and only 15 interceptions in two seasons as the Wolverines starter. Patterson threw for over 3,000 yards for Michigan this past season—the third quarterback in school history to do so—but his completion percentage dropped dramatically from 2018 to ’19—from 64.6% to 56.2%.

Patterson is certainly a talented athlete overall who is confident, decisive, intelligent, and athletic. He’s a problem for defenses outside the pocket, and he’s a quick assessor of a situation with the confidence to make the most of it. That said, the aforementioned accuracy issues have plagued him all along and his average arm strength won’t help. He was projected to go as a late-round pick, if drafted at all, for those reasons.

The signing is an interesting one for the Chiefs given that they already seemed to have solidified the depth chart at quarterback this spring. Certainly Patrick Mahomes isn’t going anywhere as QB1—with a long-term extension coming soon enough that will make him the NFL’s highest-paid player. Chad Henne is entrenched in the backup quarterback role as a reliable veteran. Beyond that, the Chiefs typically don’t carry any more quarterbacks on the active roster.

The Chiefs do, however, tend to carry a developmental arm on the practice squad and former Ole Miss star Jordan Ta’amu seemed to have the third quarterback spot locked down. Ta’amu went undrafted but was impressive during a brief run as the starting quarterback for the St. Louis Battlehawks in the short-lived XFL relaunch. After the league dissolved, Ta’amu signed with the Chiefs and the team then released former Vanderbilt starter Kyle Shurmur to clear the way.

The addition of Patterson means that Ta’amu now has some competition as a camp arm who hopes to turn the heads of Chiefs coaches in whatever preseason teams are given by the coronavirus.