Justin Fields might be the Kansas City Chiefs’ starting quarterback when the 2026-2027 NFL season opens.

Fields, who spent last season with the New York Jets after they signed him to a two-year, $40 million deal, is already being cast off by the Jets, who decided they’d seen enough halfway through last season. They’re trading him to the Chiefs, a team remaking its quarterback room following franchise quarterback Patrick Mahomes’ anterior cruciate ligament, or ACL, and lateral collateral ligament, or LCL, tears back in December and the departure of his backup, Gardner Minshew, in free agency.

That situation left the Chiefs in flux as they try to rekindle their dynasty. The Chiefs have played in four Super Bowls and won three since 2020, but missed last season’s playoffs. ACL and LCL tears are no longer considered career-threatening by themselves, but some athletes can take the better part of a year to rehab after surgery from either injury. Mahomes tore both ligaments in addition to incurring some bone damage. He had them surgically repaired the day after his injury, which would allow about nine months for rehab before next season starts in September. Kansas City’s obvious preference would be for Mahomes to be ready, but unless they sign another free-agent quarterback or draft one who could beat out Fields in training camp, it looks like Fields is their insurance policy.

Fields has tried to hold onto a starting job since the Chicago Bears traded him to the Pittsburgh Steelers in 2024. He went 4-2 in six starts for Pittsburgh in the 2024-2025 season before being benched for Russell Wilson. In New York, he went 2-7 in nine starts before being benched for Tyrod Taylor.