At first glance, New York is simply moving on from yet another quarterback who failed to become the Jets’ answer at the position. Fields’ Jets tenure started on an explosively positive note — with the new arrival completing 16 of 22 passes for 218 yards and a touchdown while rushing for two more scores in a wild 34-32 loss to the Steelers in Week 1 — but he struggled mightily after the season opener, regressing significantly before first-year coach Aaron Glenn benched him for veteran Tyrod Taylor. By the season’s end, Fields was on injured reserve due to a knee issue while Brady Cook was handling starting snaps for New York, and it was reasonable to expect the Jets to move on from the quarterback they’d handed a two-year, $40 million deal in March of 2025.
This deal could end up proving mutually beneficial, however. New York took a low-level risk by acquiring Smith, a veteran the Jets hope will stabilize a position that’s been anything but reliable over the last few seasons, then managed to find a partner to facilitate their split with Fields well before April, taking on most of his guaranteed salary in order to complete the deal. Kansas City, meanwhile, receives an experienced backup whose archetype and physical tools fit well within Andy Reid’s offense, a scheme built around and dependent upon Patrick Mahomes.
With Mahomes facing an uncertain timeline for return following a significant knee injury he suffered on Dec. 15, the Chiefs needed a legitimate second option under center. Fields’ history is filled with struggles (16-37 record as a starter), but if any home presented the best possible opportunity for the former first-round pick to get his career back on track — even if that only means a maximum of a few starts — it was Kansas City.
In a dreadful final month of the 2025 regular season, the Chiefs were forced to acknowledge they did not have a reliable backup behind Mahomes. Gardner Minshew suffered an injury just a handful of snaps into his first start in place of Mahomes (and eventually left for Arizona in March), while Chris Oladokun’s nightmarish Week 18 showing in a loss the lowly Raiders essentially guaranteed he wouldn’t walk into the backup job in 2026.
Fields offers the Chiefs an alternative that arrives with little risk and room for unexpected upside. We’ll see if Reid proves to be the whisperer the former Buckeye needed to finally find some consistency in his play.
