Chiefs news: Shane Buechele has inside track at backup quarterback

Brett Veach spoke highly of Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Shane Buechele in recent comments to the K.C. Star.

One of the important yet potentially overlooked areas of concern on the Kansas City Chiefs roster this offseason comes at quarterback. Of course, not with Patrick Mahomes as the starter but with the retirement this winter of Chad Henne as the team’s long-term backup. After four seasons in K.C., Henne decided to call it a career following the Chiefs’ victory in Super Bowl LVII—a move that leaves the team without a proven quarterback behind their franchise face.

Moving forward, the Chiefs could easily bring in a veteran to compete once again, which is what they’ve done in the past. Even when Henne himself was in question, the team turned to NFL vet Matt Moore, and it’s possible they bring in like that again. It’s not hard to find someone willing to hold the clipboard.

That said, the Chiefs have kept Shane Buechele around on the active roster when it was clear he’d get poached from the practice squad—thanks, Arizona Cardinals—and that was back in 2021. This past season, he was a healthy scratch in every game as the Chiefs kept him stashed on the roster for another year. It seems as if they’ve been planning for this all along.

General manager Brett Veach recently spoke to reporters about Buechele and acknowledged that further competition could come, but he’s also confident in the “highly intelligent” Buechele.

"“On one end, we know with 11 (draft) picks we’ll have a chance to maybe add competition to that room,” Veach said. “But on the other end, we’re certainly thankful that Shane has been here, and we feel confident in him moving forward.”"

With two years in the system and that active roster commitment, Buechele certainly has the leg up over other developmental competition like Chris Oladokun, who is on the offseason roster after signing a futures deal. But it will be interesting to see if any quarterback prospects fall that the Chiefs like in the draft, given that they have so many picks available to them.

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