Upon his hire in 2013, Andy Reid swiftly pulled off a trade to land San Francisco’s Alex Smith as his new starting quarterback. Smith played well enough to make the Chiefs a playoff contender for four years before the Chiefs pulled the trigger on the most pivotal trade in NFL history, acquiring the 10th pick in the 2017 draft and selecting Patrick Mahomes.
Fast forward through all the division championships, MVP awards, and Super Bowl victories to Week 15, 2025: losing 16–13 with the team’s chances at a playoff berth on the line, Mahomes had the Chiefs near midfield on a potential game-winning drive when tragedy abruptly ended his season. Mahomes’ backup, Gardner Minshew, completed a few passes before throwing a costly interception that mathematically eliminated the Chiefs from any shot at the playoffs.
Days later, the team learned that a torn ACL and LCL would keep Mahomes sidelined through next summer. No one knows who will be under center when the Chiefs take the field for their Week 1 tilt in early September. All of this sets the table for a fact that should give every Chiefs fan pause:
The Chiefs' quarterback situation entering the 2026 season will be as murky as it has ever been under Andy Reid.
There has never been any doubt about who the starter is during Reid’s tenure. And though there is zero chance of Mahomes ever getting Wally Pipp’d, the fact is that no one has ever had to ask who the starting quarterback is. Smith hardly missed a game in a Chiefs uniform. When Mahomes has missed time, either Chad Henne, Matt Moore, or Gardner Minshew has been ready in the wings. The unique circumstance awaiting the Chiefs ahead of the 2026 offseason is that Mahomes might not be ready to play, and both Minshew and Chris Oladokun are pending free agents.
Minshew will certainly be a factor in any offseason quarterback discussion. The 29-year-old fits squarely into that window of “not good enough to be a starter, but too good to be a backup,” and the Chiefs were fortunate to land him in free agency last spring. But Minshew himself suffered a season-ending injury in the first quarter at Tennessee during his first start as a Chief, and that leaves his future in Kansas City in doubt.
Oladokun entered the Titans game as the backup, and the team had quickly thrown together a game plan centered around Minshew, but Oladokun still managed to complete 11 of 16 passes for 111 yards in his first real NFL action.
It is more fair to assess Oladokun based on his first start, the Week 17 showdown between the Chiefs and Broncos. The Chiefs were expected to get mauled in primetime at home by the division-leading Broncos, but the 28-year-old Oladokun kept the Chiefs within striking distance on Christmas night, completing 13 of 22 passes for 66 yards against the league’s top defense and behind two third-string offensive tackles, neither of whom had played together before.
The box score does not tell the full story of Oladokun’s performance. What fans will remember is that Oladokun made several gritty plays that quite honestly reminded viewers of Mahomes—scrambling out of the pocket, avoiding sacks, and completing passes under pressure. The influence of spending two years as an understudy to Mahomes was on full display, and the Chiefs hung with the Broncos until the very end of an exciting game.
The Chiefs’ philosophy has never been to pair Mahomes with a younger quarterback for him to groom. Until this season, Mahomes had always been younger than his backup. With time to assess their situation, the team may look to a more seasoned veteran in free agency to back up Mahomes and potentially begin the season with a start or two before giving way to the three-time Super Bowl MVP. They might break this trend and finally spend a draft pick on a quarterback. Or perhaps they turn back to Oladokun and give him their vote of confidence.
Besides Minshew and Oladokun, several other backup quarterback options for Kansas City will be free agents next spring. That list includes Teddy Bridgewater, Joe Flacco, Jimmy Garoppolo, Sam Howell, Trey Lance, Marcus Mariota, Mitchell Trubisky, Malik Willis, and Russell Wilson.