More moves are coming at the quarterback position this offseason than any winter/spring in recent Kansas City Chiefs history. From Patrick Mahomes' recovery from a torn ACL to the lack of a proven veteran under contract behind him, the depth chart has little to offer. Fortunately, there's a lot of runway ahead with free agency and the draft.
Chiefs general manager Brett Veach is getting ahead of things a bit, at least, with the reported signing of former New Orleans Saints quarterback Jake Haener. NFL Network's Mike Garafolo broke the news, saying that Haener chose K.C. after his contract on the Saints practice squad expired.
Haener came to the NFL as a former fourth-round pick of the Saints at No. 127 overall in the 2023 NFL Draft. After putting up some impressive numbers at Fresno State, scouts loved his confidence and leadership, even as they also docked him for an average skill set and subpar size.
The Saints activated Haener for 8 games in 2024, a frustrating season in which New Orleans primarily leaned upon a nearly-finished Derek Carr and Spencer Rattler to carry them through. Haener would end up throwing passes in five of those games as the team dealt with injuries (and suffered through 12 losses). He also started the season finale and completed 4 of 10 passes for 49 yards and threw an interception in a 20-19 loss against the Washington Commanders.
A low-risk signing adds another developmental arm to a Chiefs quarterback room that's very much still in flux this offseason.
After watching both Mahomes and Gardner Minshew suffer season-ending injuries in consecutive games (Weeks 15 and 16), the Chiefs rode out the rest of the season with Chris Oladokun under center. Shane Buechele was also brought in, but he signed back with the Buffalo Bills practice squad once Kansas City's season was over.
Oladokun flashed some nice potential at times, especially in the second game against the Denver Broncos, but he also looked overwhelmed on the whole and the Chiefs are likely going to bring in considerable competition for a QB2 role. Haener is also a fringe roster player hoping to fight with Oladokun for a scout team role unless something surprising happens.
The Chiefs have a history of bringing in a fourth developmental quarterback to see what they might bring to the table. Buechele has been one such player, as has Anthony Gordon or Ian Book or Dustin Crum or Shea Patterson or Jordan Ta'amu. Haener is now the latest player to join the team in hopes of making waves, but such a blip is likely going to amount to nothing knowing that bigger names will still find their way onto the depth chart for the Chiefs this offseason.