Most unsettled Chiefs position groups ahead of final roster moves

Quarterback

It has been a decade since the Chiefs have had a real quarterback controversy. This year, there might be a minor one brewing in Kansas City.

No, the controversy isn’t about a replacement for quarterback atrick Mahomes, or even one for Chad Henne. However, the question is not whether the Chiefs will keep quarterback Shane Buechele on the  53-man roster.His 166-yard, two-touchdown performance was one of the league’s best preseason performances, and will catch the eyes of quarterback-needy teams. That already happened in 2021, when the Arizona Cardinals tried to sign Buechele off the Chiefs’ practice squad. The team proected him then, and might do that again in 2022.

The Chiefs have carried two quarterbacks on the initial 53-man roster three times in the past four years. There is no chance that the Chiefs will move on from Henne to Buechele in 2022. Henne’s 2022 contract is fully guaranteed, and Kansas City would not eat his $3.26 million salary. But, Buechele has now successfully fended off Anthony Gordon and Dustin Crum as Kansas City’s young depth quarterbacks.

Henne is nearing the end of his long career, and Buechele is waiting in the wings to take his place in 2023. If the Chiefs waive Buechele in hopes of re-signing him to the practice squad, chances are another team will scoop him up. But, will the Chiefs break their precedent to keep Buechele? That answer likely will not come until Tuesday.