Report: Kansas City Chiefs sign Michigan quarterback Shea Patterson
NFL Network's Tom Pelissero has reported that the Kansas City Chiefs have agreed to terms with former Ole Miss and Michigan quarterback Shea Patterson.
Patterson was the highest-rated high school quarterback in his 2016 class and fourth-ranked prospect overall. He spent the first two years of his college career at Ole Miss where he threw for 3,139 yards and 23 touchdowns in 10 games for the Rebels.
After the 2017 season, it was announced that Ole Miss would be banned from the postseason in 2018 due to NCAA violations. After the news, Patterson was granted permission to explore a transfer to another school, where he chose Michigan.
At Michigan, Patterson recorded 5,661 passing yards and 45 touchdowns with the Wolverines in two seasons.
The signing of Patterson brings an interesting dynamic into the Chiefs' quarterback room as he will join fellow Ole Miss quarterback Jordan Ta'amu.
Patterson suffered a knee injury, a torn PCL, with five games left in the season and missed the remainder of the season. In Patterson's absence, Ta'amu threw for 1,682 yards and 11 touchdowns.
When Patterson left the Rebels in 2018, Ta'amu assumed the role of starting quarterback.
With his former quarterback colleague in the same system, Ta'amu and Patterson will once again be battling for a role, this time, with the Chiefs. In Ta'amu's introductory press conference, he said he felt the Chiefs offense provided him a great place to learn and grow as a quarterback.
“I felt like the Chiefs were in my alley just the way the offense is, all the great things I’ve been hearing about coach Reid and his offense and the quarterback room,” Ta’amu said in his introductory teleconference. “Me and my agent felt like this would be the best opportunity for me to stick, for me to learn and keep going.”
The Chiefs now have four quarterbacks on their roster, after releasing practice squad quarterback Kyle Shurmur earlier this offseason, who they signed as an undrafted free agent after the 2019 NFL Draft. The Chiefs signed Ta'amu before the 2020 draft and re-signed veteran backup Chad Henne this offseason.
