Pro Football Rumors
The Chiefs took their first real step back of the Patrick Mahomes era last season, finishing 6-11. While the team was 6-8 in games Mahomes finished, highlighting some roster issues despite another upper-crust defensive ranking, Gardner Minshew and Chris Oladokun made starts to close the season.
Mahomes’ ACL and LCL tears bring by far his most notable adversity since his stratospheric QB1 debut in Kansas City. The Chiefs appear unconcerned through a long-term lens, having given the megastar quarterback another extension (worth $504.75MM and $182.8MM in total guarantees) that runs through 2033. In the short term, however, Mahomes still has hurdles to negotiate before returning to action.
[RELATED: Early Guarantee Dates In Place On Mahomes’ Latest Record-Setting Extension]
As Mahomes readies for his 10th NFL season, he did not fully participate in OTAs or minicamp. He sat out team drills during the Chiefs’ offseason program. That was expected given the timing of his injury, which occurred in Week 15. But the NFL schedule certainly points to Mahomes completing his goal of being ready by Week 1. Kansas City’s schedule includes nationally televised games against Denver, Indianapolis and Seattle in the first six weeks. It is fairly clear the league does not anticipate Justin Fields making injury-driven early-season starts like he did in Pittsburgh two seasons ago.
In fact, the Chiefs look to be expecting Mahomes to be nearly ready to go by training camp. The three-time Super Bowl MVP is trending toward being cleared for 11-on-11 drills by the outset of camp, Sports Illustrated’s Albert Breer notes. Mahomes participated in individual drills and went through seven-on-seven work during Kansas City’s offseason program, but the team not needing Fields for first-string reps in team action would be significant as it attempts to shake off its first double-digit loss season since 2012.
Mahomes, 30, has only missed two games due to injury in his career. The QB has encountered some late-season issues — from ankle trouble in 2022 and ’24 to a concussion in the 2020 divisional round — that have limited him. Mahomes barely missed any time during the 2022 postseason, when he battled a high ankle sprain, and he was back earlier than expected after a concerning knee injury in October 2019.
The Chiefs acquired Fields from the Jets, sending New York a 2027 sixth-round pick and agreeing to a salary split to facilitate the move. Fields is on the Chiefs’ cap sheet at just $3MM, as the Jets are eating $20MM in 2026 dead money. Fields has made 53 starts, but his presence in the Chiefs’ lineup would certainly change their outlook. Oladokun remains on K.C.’s roster, though the team drafted LSU’s Garrett Nussmeier in Round 7 as a possible third-string option.
The Broncos sacked Fields nine times during a London matchup last season and would assuredly be favored on the road if he were to be a Week 1 starter for a fifth straight season. As it stands, Denver — which has won four of the past five...
