The Kansas City Chiefs probably won’t have a healthy Patrick Mahomes at their disposal come Week 1 of next year, which means the front office is likely already developing a plan to remain competitive without him for between a couple of weeks and a couple of months to start the 2026 campaign.
“Confirmation of our suspected LCL injury for Patrick Mahomes means the Chiefs’ season will be significantly impacted in 2026,” David J. Chao, a sports doctor and former NFL team physician for 17 years, said on social media Tuesday, December 16. “There is no way for him to be 100 percent healthy for the start of next season.”
Gardner Minshew is the backup quarterback and should be fine for the Chiefs’ purposes down the stretch. At 6-8 and already eliminated from playoff contention, competitiveness would be nice for locker room morale, but losing would be ideal for draft positioning.
Minshew is not under contract beyond this season, and the team has no other viable starter currently on the roster. The coming free agent class isn’t ideal for most NFL teams looking for a long-term answer at QB1, though the Chiefs can potentially offer a best-case scenario for a player like Kenny Pickett of the Las Vegas Raiders as he hits the open market for the first time next March.
Pickett was a former first-round pick of the Pittsburgh Steelers, where he started for two seasons. Two trades led Pickett first to a reserve role and a Super Bowl ring with the Philadelphia Eagles in 2024, then to a stint with Cleveland Browns for the 2025 preseason.
A hamstring injury scrapped Cleveland’s plans to potentially start Pickett and led to a third trade in two years, this one in late August 2025 to the Las Vegas Raiders following an injury to backup QB Aidan O’Connell.
O’Connell returned mid-season, but it was Pickett who got the starting nod against the Eagles last Sunday. He did not play particularly well, going 15-of-25 for 60 yards and an interception, as Philadelphia blew out Las Vegas by a score of 31-0.
Pickett is now 0-1 on the year across four appearances. He is 25-of-39 passing for 164 yards, one touchdown and one interception this season. Pickett’s career record is 15-11 with 4,934 passing yards, 16 touchdowns and 15 interceptions on a 62.5 completion rate.
That said, the Raiders are currently the second-worst team in the league based on draft position and field arguably the worst offensive line in the NFL. Pickett isn’t going to get a big, multi-year deal in the spring given his status and play over the past two seasons. He may not even get a chance at a permanent starting job.
However, Pickett could potentially get a shot as a bridge QB in Kansas City until Mahomes’ return, which might be enough to earn him a nice one-year deal and a starting opportunity elsewhere in 2027 — if not something even better.
The Chiefs have roster issues of their own, but the talent, scheme and infrastructure inherent to the organization is far better than what is happening in Las Vegas — or around much of the league, for that matter. As such, Pickett to Kansas City might make considerable sense for both sides of the equation next season, and leave both better off when it’s over compared to where they stand now.
