Chiefs solve backup QB problem by bringing back familiar face

The Kansas City Chiefs don’t have much help behind Patrick Mahomes, but they solved that problem on Friday.

The Chiefs locked in their franchise quarterback for the long-term, signing Patrick Mahomes to a ten-year extension that could pay him upwards of $500 million. In doing so, it could be argued they got a steal for Mahomes’ services, considering he’s already the face of the NFL and winner of a Super Bowl and MVP award. But Mahomes vision with this contract was to give the Chiefs some wiggle room to bring in top talent to surround him with.

That starts with a capable backup to Mahomes, which the Chiefs were lacking until Friday. While some were calling on KC to sign Colin Kaepernick, they’ve opted to go in a different direction, bringing back Matt Moore instead.

Chiefs officially bring back Matt Moore to play behind Patrick Mahomes.

At 35 years old, Moore is far from a starting-caliber QB, and the Chiefs even coaxed him out of retirement before last season. That turned out to be the right decision, as Mahomes went down with an injury and was forced to miss the majority of two football games. The Chiefs didn’t lose a beat, though, with Moore leading them to two victories and throwing four touchdown passes to boot.

Moore lacks the mobility of Mahomes, but Andy Reid and Eric Bieniemy can adjust the offense on the fly to his steady hand. Moore rarely turns the ball over and hardly ever puts the Chiefs in tough, third-and-long situations. Without Mahomes for a brief period last season, it was Moore who kept the Chiefs offense matriculating the ball down the field, while the defense (which made a huge jump to seventh overall last year) stepped up when KC needed them most.

Playing without Mahomes is obviously not a long-term recipe for success, but with his style of play, odds are there will be times the Chiefs need Moore to step in, even if just for a play or two. He’s clearly a better option than Jordan Ta’amu or Chad Henne.