Chiefs Rumors: Buechele bites the dust, Perine over Prince, Rashee Rice drops

Chiefs Rumors: Shane Buechele failed to take QB2 job from Gabbert

Coming into Saturday's preseason finale, third-year quarterback Shane Buechele appeared to have a legitimate shot of taking down veteran Blaine Gabbert, who was signed in free agency this offseason seemingly to replace veteran Chad Henne after his retirement, as the backup to Patrick Mahomes.

Buechele had proven himself as a playmaker who played with admirable efficiency in the first two games of the preseason and really gave the offense a spark, albeit against backups. Thus, it seemed like the Chiefs' final game of the preseason was one last audition for the former SMU and Texas star to take the job from Gabbert.

Unfortunately, Buechele largely fell flat in the preseason finale. Though he did throw for 89 yards and a touchdown, he completed under 50% of his passes (8-of-17) and threw two pretty ugly interceptions, one of which was returned by former Chiefs safety Juan Thornhill for a pick-six touchdown.

While Buechele has been a great story in training camp and the preseason, Gabbert far outshined him in the preseason finale, which all but cements the fact that the veteran will go into the season as the backup. That doesn't mean this is the end of the line for Buechele as a whole but, in the context of the 2023 season, it doesn't appear that he's going to factor into the Chiefs' plans after biting the dust in his biggest and last opportunity to prove himself.