The Kansas City Chiefs have agreed a trade with the New York Jets for quarterback Justin Fields, who is set to join as backup to superstar QB Patrick Mahomes as he recovers from injury.
The Jets will receive a 2027 sixth-round draft pick Fields and pick up $7m of his guaranteed $10m salary for this upcoming season, a source has told the Associated Press. The deal is pending a physical.
The Chiefs were searching for a veteran backup capable of filling in if two-time league MVP Mahomes is not fit to start the 2026 season after tearing his ACL late last year.
"I want to be ready for Week 1," Mahomes said in January. "The doctors said I could, but I can't predict what happens throughout the process. That's the goal, to play Week One and have no restrictions."
Fields signed a two-year deal with New York only last March, but was benched in favour of Tyrod Taylor in November as the team went 3-14 over a disappointing 2025 season.
The 27-year-olf didn't play another game for the Jets, ending the campaign by being placed on injured reserve with a knee injury.
Fields was 2-7 as the Jets' starter, throwing seven touchdowns and only one interception, but he logged fewer than 55 passing yards in four games, including a season-low 27 in a loss to the Buffalo Bills in Week Two.
With the Jets trading for Geno Smith from the Las Vegas Raiders last week, it appeared Fields' days with the team were numbered.
Fields was the No 11 overall pick by the Chicago Bears in the 2021 NFL Draft, but was moved on after three seasons as they traded him to the Pittsburgh Steelers.
With Russell Wilson dealing with a calf injury, Fields opened the season as the Steelers' starter and had five touchdown passes and five TD runs, with just one interception, while leading the Steelers to a 4-2 start that year.
But when Wilson was healthy again, Pittsburgh turned back to the veteran and Fields was sent to the bench.
After he joined the Jets last offseason to replace the released Aaron Rodgers, Fields insisted he was confident he could be a productive NFL starter. But it didn't happen in New York.
After the Jets started the 2025 season 0-7, owner Woody Johnson blamed poor quarterback play by Fields as a primary reason for the team's struggles.
"The defense is pretty good. If we can just complete a pass, it would look good," Johnson said at the NFL's fall owners meetings last October. "We've got to complete some passes. You've got to convince them that you can do something."
