Justin Fields trade grades: Chiefs take smart swing on Patrick Mahomes' new backup QB
Kansas City is sending a 2027 sixth-round pick to New York
The Kansas City Chiefs are trading for New York Jets quarterback Justin Fields, per CBS Sports NFL insider Jonathan Jones. The 2021 first-round pick (No. 11 overall) will back up three-time Super Bowl champion Patrick Mahomes.
The Chiefs are sending the Jets a 2027 sixth-round pick. The Jets will pay a large portion of Fields' salary, as he is due $10 million guaranteed.
Mahomes suffered a torn ACL in Week 15 of last season. In January, he gave an update on the recovery, saying rehab was "going great so far." As Mahomes continues to recover this offseason and into the summer, Fields could take the majority of the reps during offseason workouts and training camp.
Last season, Gardner Minshew was listed as the Chiefs' QB2 and was named the starter in Week 16 but suffered an injury in the game that ended his season. Minshew is now with the Arizona Cardinals, leaving a spot to fill on the roster.
Fields comes in with starting experience, having started 53 of the 59 games he has appeared in, with a 16-37 record. The 27-year-old went 2-7 in nine starts in 2025, struggling with the Jets and going 0-7 to start the year. His performance led to criticism from team owner Woody Johnson.
Fields finished the season with 1,259 passing yards, seven touchdowns and one interception. Here are Zach Pereles' trade grades:
Chiefs grade: B
Two things can be true here: Fields was not good last year -- in fact, he was unplayable -- and this is a reasonable move for the Chiefs to make.
Fields averaged 5.2 net yards per attempt last year, a rate that includes sacks. That number was 39th out of 43 quarterbacks who took at least 150 dropbacks, but it's worth noting two of the four quarterbacks behind him -- Tyrod Taylor and Brady Cook -- also played for the Jets. Yes, it was that ugly for Gang Green.
Fields' 11.7% sack rate was the highest in the NFL, and his complete unwillingness/inability to push the ball downfield or play on time was a double (triple?) whammy. Fields was somehow 39th in deep rate and 39th in percentage of throws that came out in 2.5 seconds or fewer.
Fields is 27. For every flash of amazing athleticism as a runner or deep ball acumen as a thrower, there have been far, far too many moments where his processing and decision-making are incompatible with a successful offense. There's a reason three teams in three years have moved on from him. This is who he is.
But the Chiefs might as well take this swing. A sixth-round pick isn't nothing, but given the immense draft capital the Chiefs have this year after the Trent McDuffie trade, it's expendable. The Jets are paying the majority of Fields' salary, and it's far from the worst bet in the world for Kansas City to make.
Should Mahomes not be ready to start the season, Fields could step in and be of use. Playing/learning behind Mahomes and under the tutelage of Andy Reid is a great landing spot for Fields, who could provide passable play -- and maybe even an explosive play here or there -- in a pinch, now under the best circumstances of his career.
We'll also give the Chiefs an approving nod for trying something different at backup quarterback. Kansas City has generally favored the well-traveled backup veteran -- Matt Moore, Blaine Gabbert, Chad Henne, Gardner Minshew etc. -- as the player behind Mahomes. In Fields, they have some sort of athletic upside and stylistic difference. It may not count for much, and in a perfect world for the Chiefs, Fields doesn't play unless it's to tidy up a blowout win. But at least it's a different direction.
Jets grade: C+
The Jets are paying for a 27-year-old backup quarterback to play for someone else in 2026. That's fine, but it's not praiseworthy by any stretch of the imagination. Fields failed the Jets, and the Jets failed Fields. It was a terrible partnership. At least the Jets are getting out of it, and this season is a true build-from-the-ground-up year. Still, this is simply the underwhelming conclusion of a relationship that seemed doomed from very early on. At least they got a pick.
