Patrick Mahomes has a new backup quarterback: Carson Wentz.
Late Monday night, the Chiefs and Wentz agreed to a one-year deal, a league source confirmed. An eight-year veteran, Wentz will get a chance to help the Chiefs, a team seeking to become the NFL’s first franchise to win three consecutive Super Bowls.
Last season, Wentz spent 11 games with the Los Angeles Rams as the backup to Matthew Stafford. In two games, including one start, Wentz recorded 163 passing yards, two touchdowns and one interception. He also led the Rams to a game-winning drive over the San Francisco 49ers in the team’s regular-season finale.
Even at 31, Wentz is expected to be the most athletic backup the Chiefs have had during the Mahomes era. During his seven-year career, Mahomes’ backups have been Matt Moore, Chad Henne and Blaine Gabbert, all of whom were in the twilight of their careers and mostly operated the offense from within the pocket.
Listed at 6-feet-5 and 237 pounds, Wentz is capable of being a running option if the Chiefs want to reinstall the quarterback sneak into their offense. The last time the Chiefs had a quarterback run a sneak was Oct. 17, 2019, against the Denver Broncos. With the Chiefs inside the red zone that Thursday night, Mahomes lunged forward on fourth-and-1 for 2 yards. But he sustained a dislocated right kneecap on the play after he was hit by defensive end Derek Wolfe, an injury that coach Andy Reid, years later, acknowledged was a rare occurrence.
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(Photo: Dustin Satloff / Getty Images)
