Marcus Mariota #8 of the Washington Commanders warms up before the game against the Chicago Bears at Northwest Stadium on October 13, 2025
The Kansas City Chiefs aren’t trying to have a rebuilding year.
Not even after they just finished 6-11 in 1 of the most miserable years in franchise history — a year that took some of the shine off their dynastic run from 2019 to 2024 of 5 Super Bowl appearances and 3 wins.
If they don’t want to have to rebuild, they’ll need to find the right quarterback to come in and play for what seems like it could be a good chunk of the season as 2-time NFL MVP quarterback Patrick Mahomes recovers from surgery to repair a torn ACL and torn LCL suffered in a Week 15 loss to the Los Angeles Chargers.
ESPN’s Seth Walder predicts the Chiefs will turn to Washington Commanders quarterback Marcus Mariota as the placeholder for Mahomes until he’s able to return.
“Mahomes has indicated he wants to be back for Week 1, and perhaps that will happen,” Walder wrote. “But any prediction about his Week 1 status is just a guess, so I imagine that the Chiefs would want to be cautious with Mahomes, given his importance to the franchise. If that is the case, they’d want a reliable backup who can ideally win a few games while Mahomes finishes up his recovery. I believe Mariota fits the bill … He has a long history of being solid, which is essentially what Kansas City needs — a player who can keep the team afloat in Mahomes’ absence but is willing to be a backup and won’t be overly expensive.”
One of NFL’s Best Backup QBs In Recent Years
Mariota, 32 years old, was the No. 2 overall pick in the 2015 NFL draft and has the spent the last 2 seasons with the Commanders on a pair of 1-year contracts. He made $6 million in 2024 and $8 million in 2025, which makes him one of the NFL’s highest-paid backups.
“Mariota, 32, is a good indication of just how slim the quarterback options are in free agency,” Fox Sports NFL reporter Greg Auman wrote in February. “He went 2-6 this year for Washington and is 9-17 as a starter since 2019, yet he’s the third- or fourth-best passer available. He had 10 touchdowns against seven interceptions in 2025, and the hope is that your backup quarterback can help you go .500 while a starter is out, but he hasn’t been there in a while.”
Mariota Forced Into Service in Nightmare Season
The Commanders endured a nightmare season in 2025, going 5-12 and missing the playoffs just 1 year after they went 12-5 and made it to the NFC Championship Game for the 1st time since 1991.
Washington’s season ended up being defined by injuries. Daniels missed 10 games due to various injuries while NFL All-Pro wide receiver Terry McLaurin missed 7 games due to injuries after he signed a 3-year, $97 million contract extension just before the season.
While Mariota went 2-6 as the starter, it’s hard to put that all on him as he was playing with the NFL’s worst defense. Of the 6 losses, 4 of them came by one score or less, including 2 overtime losses.
Mariota actually played his best game against arguably the NFL’s best defense, going 28-of-50 passes for 294 yards, 2 touchdowns and 1 interception while adding 55 rushing yards on 10 carries in a 27-26 overtime loss to the Denver Broncos.