{"id":748268,"date":"2026-02-13T02:46:15","date_gmt":"2026-02-13T02:46:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/748268\/"},"modified":"2026-02-13T02:46:15","modified_gmt":"2026-02-13T02:46:15","slug":"chiefs-nfl-free-agency-predictions-a-backup-qb-for-patrick-mahomes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/748268\/","title":{"rendered":"Chiefs NFL Free Agency Predictions: A Backup QB for Patrick Mahomes?"},"content":{"rendered":"

The 2025 season was a rare bad year for the Kansas City Chiefs<\/a>, and the 2026 season might be a murky year for them with Patrick Mahomes<\/a> rehabbing from an ACL tear. However, we might have an answer at quarterback for the Chiefs if Mahomes can’t go to start the 2026 season.\u00a0<\/p>\n

FOX Sports NFL<\/a> writer Greg Auman<\/a> predicted Kansas City would land two players in his top 100 NFL free agents list<\/a>. One of those players was a veteran quarterback with plenty of experience, but he also had the Chiefs losing three players from the list.<\/p>\n

The Chiefs are roughly $54 million north of the salary cap entering the offseason, per Over The Cap. So, it isn’t unimaginable to think that Kansas City is set to have a relatively quieter year in free agency.<\/p>\n

But let’s look at Auman’s free-agent predictions for the Chiefs.\u00a0<\/p>\n

(71st-best free agent, third-best free agent quarterback)<\/p>\n

Wilson, 37, has fallen hard over the last three years, going from a $40 million starter in Denver to barely playing on a bad Giants team. He went 0-3 as a New York starter, and after making $10 million this past season, he might draw half that. His best scenario is likely a bridge starter who goes to a team with a young starter so they don’t have to rush him. Go back to 2024, he had 16 touchdowns against five interceptions while going 6-5 for the Steelers<\/a>, and that’s the hope for a team that brings him in as a stopgap.<\/p>\n

Re-sign LB Leo Chenal<\/p>\n

(66th-best free agent, ninth-best free agent linebacker)<\/p>\n

Chenal, 25, isn’t an every-down linebacker, but he’s stout against the run and improving as a pass-rusher. He’s totaled seven sacks in four years under Steve Spagnuolo and averaged 55 tackles a year. Would another defense try to develop his coverage skills to make him someone who doesn’t have to come off the field in nickel or obvious passing situations? He’s had a tackle for loss in three different Super Bowls, so his experience doesn’t hurt if you’re trying to create a playoff culture in the locker room.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The 2025 season was a rare bad year for the Kansas City Chiefs, and the 2026 season might…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":392198,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2063],"tags":[346,7,118,110,2438,2437,2892,122,56,6,499,57,572],"class_list":{"0":"post-748268","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-kansas-city-chiefs","8":"tag-chiefs","9":"tag-football","10":"tag-kansas-city","11":"tag-kansas-city-chiefs","12":"tag-kansascity","13":"tag-kansascitychiefs","14":"tag-leo-chenal","15":"tag-national-football-league","16":"tag-new-york-giants","17":"tag-nfl","18":"tag-patrick-mahomes","19":"tag-pittsburgh-steelers","20":"tag-russell-wilson"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/116061037330846199","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/748268","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=748268"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/748268\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/392198"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=748268"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=748268"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=748268"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}