Following his Raiders release, Gardner Minshew elected to remain in the AFC West. The veteran quarterback signed with the Chiefs to operate as their backup, a move he recently spoke about. 
“From the end of our season – when it seemed like I was going to get cut – I knew in my head that this is where I wanted to be,” Minshew said of Kansas City during his introductory press conference (via Pro Football Talk’s Myles Simmons). “I took a pre-draft visit with the Chiefs back in the day [before] coming into the league. I feel like everything went really well… I always knew that [Kansas City would] be a really good fit.”
The former sixth-rounder began his career with the Jaguars, but after only two years in Jacksonville he was traded to the Eagles. That set Minshew up for a pair of seasons in Philadelphia, followed by his single campaign with the Colts (which included 13 starts). While Indianapolis was interested in re-signing him, Minshew took a two-year Raiders deal last spring to compete for Vegas’ QB1 gig.
The 28-year-old won a training camp competition against Aidan O’Connell, one in which neither passer delivered a convincing performance. Minshew’s ball security gave him an edge, but his time atop the depth chart fluctuated over the course of the season. He was benched on more than one occasion, although O’Connell’s injury situation still resulted in nine Minshew starts. The latter suffered a broken collarbone in November, leading to a failed physical designation for his Raiders release.
Given his injury situation, it came as something of a surprise Minshew signed quickly in the wake of his Vegas tenure coming to an end. A number of other quarterback dominoes had not fallen at the time of his one-year Chiefs agreement, and waiting out the situation could have yielded a path to at least competing for a starting gig with a different team. Given Minshew’s remarks, though, it is clear his priority was to head to Kansas City on the open market.
The Chiefs had Carson Wentz in place as Patrick Mahomes‘ backup last season, and he made just one start (a Week 18 game which came after the No. 1 seed in the AFC had been clinched). Minshew will likewise not have a path to playing time barring a Mahomes injury, but he clearly landed his preferred opportunity for the 2025 campaign.
Not a bad QB2 option in case of emergency.
Gardner had a 120.0 passer rating against the Chiefs so that probably convinced them that he would be better playing for them than against them.
Yeah but what is his rating against literally anyone else?
Well, he’s obviously more talented than you by 1000%, so there’s that. Being put on a team with a rookie head coach who was in way over his head didn’t help. Gardener is a very capable QB who pissed off the GM in Jacksonville and got traded to a team where he was buried, much like Trey Lance in Dallas. So, in summation, he’s in a great place to prosper and he will despite your snarky comment.
Ok boomer
SNS- Are you mentally deficient? When that’s the best you’ve got when you have all day to come up with something and you go with something from 4 years ago that’s pretty pitiful. You are definitely sorry because you can’t come up with new material. What’s next? Na-na boo-boo with your fingers in your ears waving back and forth. When you get out of elementary school you can come back on.
He’s done pretty well against a few other teams as well but like all QBs that get demoted to a backup role, being consistent is the big problem.
Last year; beat Ravens in Baltimore. Year before with Colts, ditto. Was surprised to see Ravens sign Rush; knowing GM was available.
Let me translate: “I wanted to go to the team that gave me the best chance of winning a superbowl ring without me having to actually take the field”
Don’t know what happened last year. Besides a head coach who clearly had no idea what he was doing. But Gardener Is better than he showed with the Raiders. With the weapons KC has he will be more than capable of filling in for Mahomes. Minshewmania is alive and well and residing in the BBQ capital of the USA.
Head coaches don’t throw interceptions
Frank Reich, Doug Pederson and Jason Garrett would beg to differ. 🙂
SNS-But some do call plays. And if it’s no something the QB can pull off it’s definitely their fault.
Smells good to me …
I always provide an upvote when I see a comment that is on the nose 🙂
A decision to sign with KC as a back up QB sounds like an easy decision to me. A potential Super Bowl team.Working for a high end organization. Getting paid a good buck. And just carry a clipboard for HC Andy Reid and OC Matt Nagy sounds like a nice deal to me.