Chiefs news: Carson Wentz signs on to back up Patrick Mahomes for 2024

Another new league year has begun in the National Football League and, with it, a new(er) tradition continues in the form of a new backup quarterback for the Kansas City Chiefs.

Late on Monday evening, news reports circulated that the Chiefs had signed veteran quarterback Carson Wentz to be QB2 behind Patrick Mahomes for the 2024 season. Terms weren't immediately made available, but NFL reporter Ian Rapoport had word that it was a single-season contract.

Carson Wentz is the new Blaine Gabbert who was the new Chad Henne for the Chiefs.

If the one-year deal holds true, Wentz will be the latest short-term rental for a team that seems just fine with a rotating cast of veterans to sit behind Patrick Mahomes and provide the coaches with some measure of security in case of injury or emergency.

The signing of Wentz makes it clear that last year's signing, Blaine Gabbert, will be forced to find a new team on the open market himself, which shouldn't be too much of an issue given his relative youth and experience. Backups have a way of sticking around the league for long stretches—just ask the likes of Chase Daniel or Joe Flacco.

Before Gabbert, the Chiefs did keep Chad Henne around for several seasons until he decided to retire following the '22 campaign. Perhaps the Chiefs will decide to keep Wentz around if things go well for him in '24.

Wentz has a history of single-season deals himself after having played for the Eagles, Colts, Commanders, and Rams over the last four seasons. He remained a starting quarterback option in the NFL through his twenties, but in the last year-and-a-half, he's been relegated to the bench and sat behind Matt Stafford a year ago.

As for what Wentz brings to the table, he has 93 games of experience as a starting quarterback with a 47-45-1 record in that span. He's thrown 153 touchdown passes and 67 interceptions in that time and has finished as high as third in NFL MVP voting in his third season in the league. Last year, he won his only start, a Week 18 game against the San Francisco 49ers after the Rams decided to rest Stafford.

Wentz's days as a potential franchise quarterback are behind him, but he just turned 31 years old and it's quite possible he's viewing a stint with Andy Reid and the Chiefs as a way to potentially rehabilitate his image and earn a longer look as a starter coming into the last of his prime years. As for this year, the Chiefs now have a clear QB2 with a larger body of work than most who have sat behind Mahomes in the past.