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FORMER COUGAR QUARTERBACK Gardner Minshew and the Kansas City Chiefs recently agreed to a one-year deal for 2025 and a Chiefs beat writer tells Cougfan.com why it's a win-win for both parties. Patrick Mahomes is of course the starting QB in Kansas City, but Chiefs Wire host Ed Easton Jr. says serving as Mahomes' backup and insurance policy was the "best option" for the former Washington State signal caller as he enters his seventh NFL season.
"Going to the Chiefs was the best option for him: he's still getting paid by the Raiders, he took less to play for the Chiefs and be a backup to Mahomes,” Easton said. “The Chiefs kind of went in a different direction. They usually get a mentor quarterback, or an older quarterback, to be the backup."
[See video above for more with Easton on Minshew's fit in K.C.]
The 28-year-old Minshew appeared in 10 games with nine starts for the Raiders last season, completing 203-of-306 passes for 2,013 yards and nine touchdowns. He averaged 6.6 yards-per-attempt and posted a passer rating of 81.0.
"The Raiders situation was never going to work out for him being a quarterback there," Easton said. "For him, in terms of his stock and wanting to be a starting quarterback again, that may have gone out the window because of what happened last year."
Since Mahomes has entered the league, Chiefs head man Andy Reid has opted for an older, more veteran quarterback as the backup (Chad Henne, Blaine Gabbert and Carson Wentz). Minshew marks a change in age as QB2.
"They figured since Mahomes has been in the league as a two-time MVP, let's get a guy that's around his age that can come in right away and play," Easton said. "I think for Minshew it's a great situation for him, I don't know how often he's going to play, but with Mahomes' injury history, I think he's in a good spot."
MINSHEW HAS PLAYED for a multitude of offensive coordinators during an NFL career that's taken him to Jacksonville, Philadelphia, Indianapolis and Las Vegas. His history in the Air Raid offense also adds another wrinkle of knowledge at the position.
And Easton thinks Minshew's flair played a pivotal role in Kansas City identifying him as their best option at backup quarterback.
"One of the benefits of having Minshew is that he's able to pick up new offenses so quickly, he's done it in his entire career," Easton said. "He's played every time he's been a backup, so he knows how to come in and make something happen.
"Andy Reid from our conversations in the past, he's always been big on guys that have an 'it' factor that you can't really describe … when you look at a guy like Minshew, he's the ultimate it-factor guy."
TWO FORMER COUG DEFENSEMEN play for the Chiefs in cornerback Jaylen Watson and safety Jaden Hicks. Watson picked up two Super Bowl rings his first two seasons in Kansas City, but an ankle injury limited him to just six regular season games in 2024 before returning for the entirety of Kansas City's playoff run as Super Bowl runner-up to Philadelphia.
"Jaylen Watson, he was the second best corner on the team, injuries have kind of slowed him down," Easton said. "When he's healthy, he's right there next to [Trent] McDuffie. He was a very important player for them in the early part of the season before an ankle injury kind of knocked him out until the postseason started. He's a guy that they have high expectations for going into 2025."
Hicks, meanwhile, recorded three interceptions and five pass deflections over his NFL rookie season, which included four tackles in a 40-22 Super Bowl loss.
"Jaden Hicks' rookie season last year, I thought he made some great plays," Easton said. "He looked very good in preseason, that's one of those things where we thought he was possibly knocking on the door of being a starter right away.”
Easton said Kansas City's offseason may have opened the door to a full-time job for Hicks in 2025.
"With Justin Reid moving on to New Orleans, this could open up an opportunity for more playing time for Hicks," Easton said. "He's just a very talented player."
And now there are three Cougs on the Kansas City roster.
"There's something going on with Washington State, you're talking about the Cougars, they've got some great players coming out of there," said Easton. "Now the Chiefs get probably one of the most famous ones with Gardner Minshew at the quarterback position.”
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