Chiefs and Andy Reid reunite with Nikko Remigio in NFL free agency news
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Kansas City Chiefs head coach Andy Reid.
The Kansas City Chiefs made a big investment when they traded for quarterback Justin Fields, and now the team is getting some clarity on what role he could play behind Patrick Mahomes this season.
The former first-round pick will back up Mahomes and could potentially take the field to start the season if Mahomes isn’t fully returned from the torn ACL and LCL that cut short his 2025 season. But the Chiefs may be hoping for Fields to play a more developmental role, an insider shared, with hopes that Mahomes may not end up missing any time.
In a mailbag column published this week, SI.com insider Albert Breer called the trade for Fields a “great business arrangement” that will allow Fields to develop behind an excellent coaching staff while giving the Chiefs an insurance policy for Mahomes.
“He gives Kansas City depth and an experienced stand-in with real upside for Andy Reid to mine,” Breer wrote. “The Chiefs give him a year of development and the shot to take starter reps in a championship program through the spring and summer, while Patrick Mahomes rehabs his knee injury.”
Fields could potentially start in the season opener, though Breer predicted it won’t come to that.
“I’d bet on Mahomes getting back for Week 1, so that’d make the likelihood that Fields is spending the 2026 season entirely as a backup, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing,” Breer wrote.