Chad Henne could be KC Chiefs last veteran backup quarterback

At some point, Patrick Mahomes will be old enough. At the age of 25, perhaps this is not the right time, but at some point, the K.C. Chiefs will make a shift behind Mahomes at the quarterback position. Either they will open up a spot at QB3 on the active roster for a developmental arm, or they will allow a younger player to serve as the primary backup instead.

During Mahomes’ younger years, we’ve seen the Chiefs employ the veteran/mentor approach with the likes of Chad Henne and Matt Moore. Alex Smith was the first such player, of course, as the team asked Mahomes to sit and watch for a full season of development.

In 2021, however, Mahomes is into now playing into his fifth NFL season. He had the chance to sit and learn from Smith and Andy Reid‘s coaching staff and then three years to put it into practice. The results of those years speak for themselves. He’s now an established veteran, albeit a still very young one at 25 years old.

While Mahomes is certainly still teachable (and will remain so), it’s not as if a veteran quarterback is going to have much more to teach Mahomes in the QB room that Mike Kafka, Eric Bieniemy, or Reid himself is not going to know.

How will KC Chiefs approach the quarterback depth chart in future years?

Early on, a veteran is able to help decipher what the coaches want from an on-field QB’s perspective. At this point, after deep postseason runs in each of his years as a starter, Mahomes has 54 total games played. How much can a player like Moore or Henne help Mahomes understand what he’s going to face when Mahomes will have already faced so many more modern situations than a veteran who has rarely played in years?

At some point, it will be interesting to see if Chad Henne is the last veteran/mentor role the Chiefs will keep around for Mahomes. At the very least, they might decide to alter their approach to the active roster and keep three quarterbacks around. Remember to this point in Mahomes’ development, it’s largely been the phenom and the mentor before relegating any other quarterback to the practice squad.

It’s a solid long-term play for any front office to develop a quarterback both as security and upside at the position and as a desirable asset for other teams. Ron Wolff did this well for years with the Green Bay Packers. Bill Belichick flipped a few young QBs with the New England Patriots in his tenure as well. Given Andy Reid’s reputation as a QB whisperer, pairing him with a solid young asset makes sense if the fit or value is right in the draft down the road.

Because of this, either the Chiefs will keep the two QB approach on the active roster and go with an older Mahomes and a younger arm to develop or they will give themselves an additional roster spot to work with down the road. If it’s the latter, then Chiefs Kingdom is likely to see someone like Henne or Moore around for years to come. However, if not, we could be looking at the last veteran quarterback as Mahomes turns the corner toward veteran status.