It has been a nightmare of a season for the Kansas City Chiefs, and it was only made worse following the injury to Patrick Mahomes.
Mahomes suffered a torn ACL and LCL in the Week 15 defeat at the hands of the Los Angeles Chargers and, adding insult to injury, that was the same game in which the Chiefs were eliminated from playoff contention.
The Chiefs noted that Mahomes' rehab process will begin "immediately" after he had surgery, but there remains a possibility that the superstar quarterback won't be ready for the start of 2026 if the default nine-month recovery timeline holds.
At the very least, Kansas City needs a veteran quarterback to get it through the team's offseason program, and quite possibly training camp, also.
As things stand now, the Chiefs do not have another quarterback under contract for 2026, as both Chris Oladokun and Gardner Minshew are free agents.
ESPN's Jeremy Fowler has floated a fun idea for the Chiefs, and it comes in the form of former Super Bowl-winning quarterback Joe Flacco landing in Kansas City.
Perhaps Kansas City should be on the list, with an asterisk? Patrick Mahomes faces a lengthy recovery from his torn ACL, and given the team's struggles this season, the Chiefs might need steady reinforcements for Week 1. Joe Flacco is the kind of QB who would make some sense. (Also: At one point I started to wonder whether Philadelphia would be looking at a change eventually, but Jalen Hurts is weathering that storm.)
Flacco started the year with the Cleveland Browns before being traded to the Cincinnati Bengals to fill the void left by Joe Burrow's injury.
Flacco will be 41 in January, but he showed he's still got gas left in the tank after he completed 60.3% of his passes for 2,455 yards and 15 touchdowns to 10 picks in 11 games (10 starts).
Flacco would be an excellent asset for the Chiefs, and in more ways than one.
He would give Kansas City a competent quarterback who can run things during the offseason while Mahomes is rehabbing, and Flacco will keep the Chiefs competitive if Mahomes isn't ready by Week 1.
The only semblance of an issue with this scenario is the money.
Flacco is going to be expensive in comparison to most backup quarterbacks, with Spotrac projecting him to land a one-year, $5.7 million deal. Meanwhile, Kansas City is projected to be a whopping $45.9 million over the cap in 2026.
That said, general manager Brett Veach is going to move some money around to get the Chiefs cap compliant, and we'd envision him setting aside enough to bring in a top-flight backup like Flacco if the Chiefs are serious about competing in 2026.
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