The Kansas City Chiefs made a trade with one of the worst NFL teams of all-time to find Patrick Mahomes’s 2026 backup quarterback amid the veteran star’s injury woes
11:06 ET, 16 Mar 2026Updated 11:38 ET, 16 Mar 2026
Patrick Mahomes could miss the start of the 2026 NFL Season recovering from his ACL tear(Image: Getty Images)
With star quarterback Patrick Mahomes’ status still in question for the start of the 2026 NFL campaign after his late-season ACL tear, the Kansas City Chiefs needed to find an experienced backup.
Chiefs GM Brett Veach looked to one of the NFL’s worst teams in 2025 for the answer: the New York Jets and their beleaguered signal-caller Justin Fields. The teams swapped late-round picks to facilitate the move.
Kansas City is sending New York a 2027 sixth-round pick in return for Fields and a 2027 seventh-rounder. The Jets are paying $7 million of Fields’ $10 million 2026 salary, therefore saving slightly more money than if they had outright released him.
New York re-acquired Geno Smith this offseason from the Las Vegas Raiders. Smith, the team’s 2013 second-round pick, is presumed to be in contention to start, in competition with any 2026 NFL draft pick.
READ MORE: Late NFL owner’s belongings sold for astonishing $93M in auction after deathREAD MORE: Malik Willis situation set to repeat itself as Anthony Richardson landing spot emerges
Mahomes’s season-ending ACL injury occurred in December during an AFC West-eliminating loss to the rival Los Angeles Chargers.
While Mahomes is expected to return for the start of the season, the presence of Fields allows Kansas City to have a veteran to take reps in training camp. Fields first-round pick in 2021 and has made 53 career starts for the Chicago Bears, Pittsburgh Steelers and Jets.
Justin Fields was benched for the Jets’ final nine games in 2025(Image: Getty Images)
Fields wasn’t great in 2025: he failed to top 100 passing yards in more than 50% of his starts a season ago. He completed 62.7% of his passes for 1,259 yards with a 7-1 touchdown-interception ratio in his nine starts.
As usual, most of Fields’ value came with his legs. He rushed for 383 yards and four scores. Still, these tallies were a far-cry off his 1,143-yard rushing peak in 2023.
Mahomes’s Chiefs beat Fields’s Bears 41-10 in 2023(Image: Getty Images)
He signed a two-year, $40 million contract with the team last March to take over for the departing Aaron Rodgers. With Fields gone, New York will have a different primary starting quarterback for a fourth straight season (Zach Wilson, Rodgers, Fields, and the 2026 starter).
After the Jets’ 0-7 start, owner Woody Johnson publicly called out Fields.
“It’s hard when you have a quarterback with a rating that we’ve got,” Johnson said during an impromptu media session in London. “He has the ability, but something just is not jibing.”
“If you look at any head coach with a quarterback like that, you’re going to see similar results across the league. You have to play consistently at that position, and that’s what we’re going to try to do for the remainder of the season.”
READ MORE: Former NFL stars fume at White House for using them in ‘sick’ footageREAD MORE: NFL team completes ‘most consequential transaction in last five years’ to land new QB
ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported that Fields’ preference was to go to Kansas City. The team lost 2025 backup Gardner Minshew to the Arizona Cardinals in free agency and was looking for a backup with more experience than the current option, Chris Oladokun.
Mahomes isn’t going anywhere anytime soon. The three-time Super Bowl winner signed a 10-year, $450 million extension in 2020.
