With the start of the 2026 NFL league year set to officially begin this Wednesday at 4:00 p.m. Eastern and the legal tampering period for unrestricted free agents set to kick off on Monday, the Kansas City Chiefs have a lot of decisions to make after missing the playoffs for the first time in the Patrick Mahomes era.
Mahomes, as the world knows, saw his 2025 campaign come to an abrupt end in a Week 15 defeat at the hands of the Los Angeles Chargers, suffering both a torn ACL and LCL in his left knee. And while the two-time NFL MVP is expected to be at full strength by the time Week 1 rolls around this September, as he immediately underwent surgery, the Chiefs still have a decision to make on who will serve as his backup in 2026.
Naturally, that brings us to Gardner Minshew, who is one of the many, many players on the Kansas City roster set to hit the open market as an unrestricted free agent.
Looking back at Gardner Minshew's contract year
Signed to a one-year, $1.17 million contract a year ago at this time, Minshew appeared to be all set for what was basically a three-game audition once Mahomes went down.
However, in the early stages of the Chiefs' Week 16 matchup with the Tennessee Titans, Minshew suffered a season-ending knee injury of his own, although it wasn't nearly as severe as originally thought. Initially believed to have torn the ACL in his left knee, the seven-year veteran escaped with a non-displaced tibial plateau fracture, which is just a fancy way to say he had a severe bone bruise.
So, outside of a few kneeldowns in a couple of blowout wins and the snaps he took following Mahomes' injury, that was his 2025 season. In total, Minshew completed six of 13 passes for 37 yards with no touchdowns and one interception and rushed for two yards on six carries.
Gardner Minshew's market outlook
Because his injury wasn't as bad as originally expected, Minshew is already fully healthy, and one could easily assume that he'll have at least a couple of suitors in free agency.
Is he in a position to go somewhere and genuinely compete for a QB1 slot? No. Truth be told, his days as a regular starter are probably behind him.
But teams are always on the lookout for a strong backup with experience, and Minshew certainly has that, as he's made 47 starts during his seven-year career and has completed a solid-enough 63.1 percent of his passes for 11,987 yards with 68 touchdowns against 35 interceptions. Mind-blowing numbers? Again, no. But also again, that kind of experience is something teams love to have on hand in case of an emergency.
As far as what kind of money Minshew should be expecting, one wouldn't think he'd get too much more than the $1.17 million he received from Kansas City this past year.
Could Gardner Minshew return to the Chiefs in 2026?
This could honestly go either way.
The Chiefs obviously liked what they saw in Minshew a year ago when they signed him, so there doesn't seem to be any logical reason why they wouldn't do so again as long as the price is right. And Gardner made no secret of the fact that it was one of his career goals to play for Andy Reid.
On the flip side, however, Minshew could attempt to find a team where he has at least a little better chance at more playing time, perhaps back to the Colts as an interim starter until Daniel Jones returns.
And maybe the Chiefs want to go in another direction, as there are several other solid backup QBs set to hit the market, such as Mitch Trubisky or Marcus Mariota.
Final prediction for Gardner Minshew
In the end, though, we're going to officially call for Gardner Minshew to return to the Chiefs on another one-year deal. But since there may be the need for him to start early on if Mahomes isn't ready to go for some reason, we'll say that Kansas City gives him a little more money this time around at $2 million even.