Chad Henne’s free agency challenges KC Chiefs’ roster philosophy
By Matt Conner
Why bring back Chad Henne?
At this point, Chad Henne fits everything the Chiefs could want in a veteran quarterback profile. He’s capable of coming in and providing reliable play for the Chiefs from time to time—or at least he has in the past. He knows Mahomes very well after four years together in the locker room, film room, and on the sidelines. He’s well-versed in the offense and brings experience and perspective from more than a decade playing in the league.
Most importantly, the coaches clearly trust him in the role enough to bring him back when they could have gone elsewhere (remember Henne was injured for a full year and Matt Moore could have been the one instead). In addition, Henne’s most recent deal was a two-year contract worth north of $3 million, so clearly he’s not going to expect any long-term commitment nor anything that would break the bank. That’s going to be important for a team with cap issues.
Why not bring back Chad Henne?
Mahomes is now entering his sixth NFL season in 2022. How long does a team need to secure a veteran backup/mentor for a young quarterback? It’s possible that timeline is now over, which means Mahomes has seen enough and done enough to serve as the veteran himself.
Remember that smart teams with veteran elite quarterbacks eventually began to build a luxury pipeline of developmental quarterbacks. New England would draft a quarterback every few years behind Tom Brady in order to not only have young security at the position in case of emergency but it was also considerable trade bait down the road. The Green Bay Packers did the same and were able to offload those players after a few seasons for valuable assets.
The whole argument for not bringing back Henne really has nothing to do with Henne at all. Instead, it’s going to be about the organization’s philosophy on how to handle Mahomes and the quarterback position going forward.