The Kansas City Chiefs might have won by double digits in Week 9, but the game did not feel as comfortable as the score might have indicated. The Jets were still hanging around in the third quarter, but from there, the Chiefs finally pulled away.
At 6-2, the Chiefs are now at the halfway point of the 2026 regular season. The pending free agents on this roster will be looking for every opportunity to prove their worth, either for the Chiefs to re-sign them or for another team to sign them to a new deal.
Let's check in with some Chiefs' free agents and see how they fared in Week 9 of the NFL season.
Justin Fields tried (and failed) a QB sneak
One week after the Chiefs shied away from doing a QB sneak in Denver and got flak for it, Andy Reid showed everyone that he heard their complaints. The Chiefs had the ball on 3rd-and-1 on their own 34-yard line, and Reid had Justin Fields enter the game to try and sneak it.
Well, not only did Fields fail to get the first down, but he also fumbled the ball, and the Jets recovered. New York added to its lead four plays later and was up 6-0 just like that.
The Chiefs traded a sixth-round pick for Fields this offseason, presumably as insurance in case Patrick Mahomes wasn't healthy enough to start right out of the gate. As we know, Mahomes was healthy enough, and Fields hasn't seen the field much as a result. He's only appeared in two games to this point and has yet to complete a pass.
As for what the future holds for Fields, it's really hard to say. Maybe the Chiefs will be on the positive end of a blowout, and Fields will get some more playing time then. If he plays well, perhaps a team would be willing to take a chance on him in the 2027 offseason.
Jaylon Moore exited late in the game with ankle injury
The Chiefs needed to add help following their blowout loss in Super Bowl 59. They did so in the form of Jaylon Moore, whom they signed to a two-year deal. Moore had made a name for himself by filling in for an injured Trent Williams in San Francisco and rode that success all the way to the bank.
Moore didn't land a starting job out of the gate last year but ended up starting six games at left tackle when Josh Simmons was out. This year, he's been starting at right tackle after Jawaan Taylor was cut. He's been fine, but the bigger storyline surrounding him from this weekend is that he exited the game with an ankle injury.
Moore did not practice on Wednesday ahead of the Chiefs' matchup against the Falcons. He's in a contract year, so it's important for him to get back on the field and get some meaningful snaps in, but only if he's healthy enough to do so.
Rashee Rice had a decent game
The Chiefs' wide receivers haven't exactly been a strength for this team, but Rashee Rice has made some nice plays when he's been on the field. He finished Sunday's game against the Jets with five catches on seven targets for 49 yards. Rice averaged 9.8 yards per catch in the win.
Rice has played in all but two games so far and has a total of 25 catches for 292 yards and two touchdowns. He's in the final year of his rookie deal and has made a comment in the past that he wants to get paid handsomely like Jaxon Smith-Njigba.
The differences between the two are plentiful, but it's safe to say that the Chiefs will not be giving Rice that kind of money, and if they do, that'd be pretty silly. He has a chance to prove he could be a solid WR2 for either the Chiefs or another team, though, and hopefully, he doesn't let that opportunity go to waste.
Joshua Ezeudu fills in at RT for injured Moore
The Chiefs traded for Joshua Ezeudu right before the 2026 season kicked off, indicating that they weren't fully satisfied with the depth they had along their O-line. Ezeudu had been a member of the Giants, but the Chiefs saw enough in him to surrender a draft pick to land him.
Ezeudu has been forced to step into the right tackle spot both times that Jaylon Moore has had to leave the game (Week 5 and Week 9). He's held his own in limited snaps so far. Ezeudu has played 112 snaps (all at right tackle), has allowed six pressures, and has been flagged one time, per Pro Football Focus.
Ezeudu probably won't be someone who commands a ton of money in free agency, but if Moore continues to get dinged up and miss time, he has a chance to change that narrative for himself ahead of free agency.
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