After hoisting the Lombardi trophy for the first time in 50 years, the Kansas City Chiefs head into the off-season with decisions that will need to be made at each position.
Over the next few weeks, we’ll be breaking down each position on the team roster and the moves that need to be made towards giving the Chiefs their best chance to win another Super Bowl title.
Quarterback: (2) – Patrick Mahomes, Kyler Shurmur
UFA: Matt Moore, Chad Henne
First up, is the quarterback position and the moves that will be made in that area.
The Chiefs have made it clear that paying Patrick Mahomes elite QB money is their top priority this off-season.
Mahomes heads into the final season of his rookie contract and is slated to be a free agent following the 2020 NFL season.
In just two seasons as a starter, Mahomes has thrown for 9,412 yards and 76 touchdowns in 31 games and has taken over as the face of the NFL, already winning a league MVP and a Super Bowl MVP in his young career.
Although extending Mahomes won’t be the move General Manager Brett Veach will be making at the quarterback position.
Aside from Mahomes, Kyler Shurmur remains as the only other passer under contract with the Chiefs.
Shurmer entered the league last season as an undrafted free agent from Vanderbilt. He signed with Kansas City as the fourth QB to compete with Chase Litton for a backup role on the depth chart.
Shurmur would go onto to outshine Litton, however, both were released following the pre-season on August 30, 2019. Shurmur was brought back to the Chiefs practice squad the following day on September 1, 2019, where he spent the majority of the 2019 season.
The two QBs Kansas City had backing up Mahomes for the 2019 season are both unrestricted free agents heading into the new league year and I fully expect Veach to try and retain either Matt Moore, 36, or Chad Henne, 35.
Moore is easily the clear choice to be Mahomes’ backup in 2020 because he displayed how he handled the role in the middle of the season after Mahomes went down with a dislocated knee cap.
In three games, Moore kept the team steady and completed 64.8 percent of his throws for 659 yards and 4 touchdowns to lead the Chiefs to victories over the Denver Broncos and Minnesota Vikings.
The only question that hovers over Matt Moore’s future with the Chiefs is if he’s willing to return to football for another season or go back to retirement. Before Head Coach Andy Reid made the phone call that resulted in Moore signing with Kansas City, he was out of football for the entire 2018 season and the first half of the 2019 season. Spending his time as an NFL scout for the Miami Dolphins, coaching high school football, and spending time with family.
Now over a million dollars richer and with a Super Bowl ring on his finger, it’ll be interesting to see if Moore returns to the NFL and signs a new deal with the Chiefs or if he decides to retire from pro-football for good.
If Moore doesn’t return to the Chiefs, that leaves Chad Henne, who signed with the Chiefs in 2018 as the backup to Mahomes before going down with an injury that resulted in him going to injured reserve and getting demoted as the third-string quarterback for the 2019 season.
Re-signing Henne to a cheap deal makes sense because he already knows Andy Reid’s system and it would the upper staff to evaluate bigger positions of need.
However, Henne also sits at about the same age as Matt Moore and could consider retirement as well. There’s also a chance the Chiefs decide to let Henne walk and pick up a new quarterback to backup Mahomes.
Andy Reid has traditionally always had a veteran as his backup QB and if things go south for both Matt Moore and Chad Henne to return to Kansas City, expect the Chiefs to get somebody from off the street.
One big name could be the former Missouri Tiger Chase Daniel, 33, who spent time previously with the Chiefs under Andy Reid as the backup to Alex Smith from 2013 to 2015. Daniel previously spent time under Matt Nagy with the Chicago Bears and is scheduled to be a free agent this spring assuming the Bears decide to let him walk.
Bringing back Daniel would be a no brainer to backup Mahomes since he’s already familiar Andy Reid’s playbook and he’s trustworthy to have the ball in his hands if Mahomes were to miss a few games.
In the end, it’ll be interesting to see what Brett Veach decides to do regarding potential back up QBs as well as the huge deal Mahomes is expected to sign.
None the less, that’s the Chiefs quarterback situation, personally, I think the Chiefs will attempt to bring back Matt Moore after extending Mahomes and allow Kyler Shurmur a chance to earn the third-string job. If they’re unable to retain Moore, I believe they could look elsewhere for a backup quarterback.
