In case Patrick Mahomes isn’t ready to play Week 1, the Chiefs turned to the Jets – of all places – for quarterback help.
The Jets agreed Monday to eat some of Justin Fields’ contract in facilitate trading their displaced starter to the Chiefs for a sixth-round pick in 2027, The Post confirmed.
The trade is the result of other recent quarterback dominos: The Jets reunited with Geno Smith as their starter via a trade with the Raiders, and the Chiefs lost backup Gardner Minshew to the Cardinals in free agency.
The Jets were hesitant to release Fields and take on a $22 million dead salary-cap charge with nothing in return.
Their patience into the second week of free agency paid off by finding a taker for Fields, though the Jets will pay off $7 million of the $10 million guaranteed salary that he is due at the end of his two-year contract, a source said.
But the trade saves $3 million for the Jets, which essentially can be redirected into what they are paying to Smith ($3.3 million) after the Raiders ate the bulk of his salary. Fields’ dead-cap charge was reduced to $19 million, and he was paid $27 million for nine starts.
Mahomes suffered a torn ACL on Dec. 14, 2025 and is targeting a Week 1 return that is in line with the quick end of the injury’s recovery timetable.
If he needs a little extra time, the Chiefs now have an experienced alternative in Fields’ 53 career starts.
Fields flopped in his only year as the Jets starter, after seemingly rejuvenating his career by going from Bears draft bust to Steelers game-manager (4-2 as a starter) in 2024.
Handpicked by Jets head coach Aaron Glenn to replace Aaron Rodgers, Fields went 2-7 with the Jets and was benched in November after four games in which he threw for less than 55 yards. Fields, who signed a two-year, $40 million deal in prior offseason, wasn’t the dynamic runner that he once was for the Bears, either.
The Jets likely are not done maneuvering in the quarterback market. A case could be made that adding an experienced backup is their second-biggest need, after a receiver to complement Garrett Wilson.
Tyrod Taylor is a free agent, which means that Brady Cook and Bailey Zappe are the only signed options behind Smith. Cook went 0-4 with two touchdowns and seven interceptions as an overmatched undrafted rookie last season, while Zappe only has one start in the last two seasons since his six-game audition for the 2023 Patriots.
Could the Jets re-sign Taylor? Or target offensive coordinator Frank Reich’s protégé Carson Wentz? Or draft a rookie with pick No. 16, No. 33 or No. 44? Or pull off another trade?
Jets general manager Darren Mougey has become one of the NFL’s most active wheelers-and-dealers (12 trades) in 14 months on the job. In addition to nine draft picks in 2026 (including four in the top 44), the Jets now also have up to 10 in 2027 (including three first-rounders) based on conditions of trades attached to three sixth-rounders.
Other teams expressed an interest in trading for Fields, but the 27-year-old former first-round pick preferred to land in Kansas City, according to ESPN. He should get the bulk of the offseason and preseason reps under the watch of quarterback guru Andy Reid.
The Chiefs have recycled through a series of one-year backups – Blaine Gabbert, Carson Wentz and Minshew – behind Mahomes since Chad Henne’s retirement in 2023. Relying on Chris Oladokun, who started two games in Mahomes’ absence at the end of last season, if Mahomes has a setback would have been a risk for the Super Bowl hopefuls.
The trade is pending a physical, which is no longer rubber-stamping after the recent Ravens-Raiders debacle. Fields, who league sources expect will restructure his contract with the Chiefs, finished last season on injured reserve due to a mysterious knee bruise.