Justin Fields and the Kansas City Chiefs are preparing for the 2026 NFL season after a tough year last season. The Chiefs went 6-11 and finished No. 3 in the AFC West in 2025. The record was the worst for head coach Andy Reid in his 13 seasons with the Chiefs.
Since quarterback Patrick Mahomes took over as a starter in 2018, the worst finish Kansas City has had was the AFC championship. Mahomes has been a revelation for the Chiefs, winning three Super Bowls (2020, 2023, 2024), Super Bowl MVP awards and two MVP awards (2018, 2022).
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Justin Fields was traded to the Chiefs from the New York Jets in March for a seventh-round pick in the upcoming 2026 NFL Draft. The Jets tied the Arizona Cardinals, the Tennessee Titans and the Las Vegas Raiders for the worst record in the league (3-14) last season. Fields performed admirably, throwing for 1,259 yards on a 62.7% completion percentage with seven touchdowns and one interception.
Fields is expected to be Mahomes’ backup in 2026, and part of the unwritten rules for a backup quarterback in the NFL is to have a strong relationship with the team, especially the starting quarterback. During a press conference on Tuesday, Fields discussed his relationship with Mahomes. He also shared his excitement for the upcoming season, noting that he and Mahomes have not talked much and that he plans to learn from the 6-foot-2 quarterback.
"Yeah, I mean, of course, Coach Reid — he’s been in the NFL for a long time," Fields said. "He has had a lot of success and, you know, is very smart. So that was, of course, a deciding factor for me, an exciting factor when I came here. And then, of course, Pat — I kind of, we of course knew of each other, but we didn’t really communicate before coming here — so I’m excited to learn from him. I’m already kind of picking his brain a little bit and just observing how he goes about things in the meeting room and on the field and stuff like that. I’m excited to learn and excited, of course, to work with Coach Reid, EB and all the guys on offense."
Kansas City has two picks (No. 9, No. 29) in the first round of the 2026 NFL Draft, which begins on April 23.
