2025 NFL free agency: Gardner Minshew to become Patrick Mahomes' backup after agreeing to 1-year deal with Chiefs
After fighting for the starting job with the Las Vegas Raiders last year, Gardner Minshew is headed to a team where he is definitely going to be the backup.
The journeyman quarterback has reached a one-year deal to join the Kansas City Chiefs, per ESPN's Adam Schefter, setting him up to spend the season as the No. 2 passer behind Patrick Mahomes.
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Minshew will be joining his fifth team in seven seasons, as well as his fourth in as many years. He has started at least two games in every season for the Raiders, Indianapolis Colts, Philadelphia Eagles and Jacksonville Jaguars.
After a career-high 13 starts with the Colts in 2023 due to a season-ending injury for Anthony Richardson, Minshew joined the Raiders and won a preseason QB battle with Aidan O'Connell, but that wasn't the end of the quarterback uncertainty in Las Vegas. Minshew was benched after Week 5, then took back the job two weeks later after O'Connell broke his thumb. He kept starting after that, right up until he broke his collarbone in Week 12 to end his season.
The Raiders opted to release Minshew last week, adding a veteran QB to the free-agent market.
There will obviously be no plans for Minshew to start next season so long as Mahomes is healthy. Mahomes hasn't missed a game that mattered for the Chiefs' seeding since 2020, starting 66 of a possible 68 games with his only games missed being Week 18 games that didn't matter.
However, when you're a clear-cut playoff team like the Chiefs, it's important to have a backup you can trust, and Minshew is about as good as it gets beyond the league's clear-cut starters.
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