Gardner Minshew's agent deserves a moment in the spotlight.
The Kansas City Chiefs paid Minshew the sum total of $1.17 million a year ago to serve as the backup quarterback for Patrick Mahomes. It was exactly the sort of signing the Chiefs are used to making every spring, to bring in a savvy veteran to serve as a "break glass in case of emergency" type. It was always on cheap one-year deals, such as the aforementioned Minshew number, given to the likes of Carson Wentz or Blaine Gabbert.
One year later, Minshew re-entered free agency this week in search of his sixth home in the NFL. He found it with a one-year deal to join the Arizona Cardinals. What's amazing this time around is that he's earned a 1-year deal worth up to $8 million, per ESPN reporter Adam Schefter. To make things even more shocking, the Cardinals are still picturing him in a backup role to Jacoby Brissett.
The Chiefs have to be sad to see Gardner Minshew leave for the desert, but that's quite a payday for the former backup QB.
Minshew has found a way to lean on the NFL's least-successful franchises for big money in the past. One year after signing a one-year, $3.5 million deal with the Indianapolis Colts, Minshew landed with the Las Vegas Raiders on a two-year, $25M contract. Now, shortly after playing for pennies in Kansas City, Minshew is once again earning a considerable income to hold the clipboard in the desert.
All of this is not to cast shade at Minshew. He's accepting what's offered to him, and we couldn't be happier for him. But it's notable that a player who is coming off of a season-ending knee injury (one who is also a year older than before) is earning so much more than what the Chiefs paid him in '25.
That said, the Chiefs are also smarting in this. Minshew was a logical choice to bring back behind Patrick Mahomes given their previous interest in him. Mahomes is working his way back from a torn ACL and LCL, so it's more important than ever for Kansas City to find a signal caller they feel comfortable with to start the season, if needed.
The Chiefs will go shopping elsewhere now, while Minshew is headed for a sunnier destination, both literally and figuratively. Minshew's deal might be one of the best moves by an agent in free agency when all is said and done.