BREAKING: Chiefs sign QB Matt Moore to One-Year Deal
The Kansas City Chiefs have signed quarterback Matt Moore to a one-year deal, adding more depth to the QB room, according to Terez Paylor of Yahoo Sports.
Paylor's report notes the importance of depth heading into the 2020 season, likely referring to the COVID-19 pandemic and the impact it could have on teams. If the Chiefs were to experience a Coronavirus outbreak, a number of players could be sidelined for two weeks, even without symptoms from the virus.
Moore started in two games for the Chiefs last year, following Patrick Mahomes' kneecap injury that at one point appeared to threaten his season. Moore split his starts, going 1-1, but performed well enough to be added back to the depth chart, even as QB Chad Henne has returned from his fractured ankle, which kept him from being the one to replace Mahomes. In his two starts and multiple appearances in 2020, Moore went 59-for-91 (64.8% completion) and threw for 659 yards, four touchdowns and no interceptions.
In addition to Mahomes and Henne, Moore also joins two more quarterbacks on the Chiefs' roster: former Ole Miss and XFL quarterback Jordan Ta'amu and former Michigan QB Shea Patterson.
Ta'amu and Patterson both still seem like long-term projects for the Chiefs, as Andy Reid typically keeps a third-string quarterback on the roster or practice squad in hopes of developing over time.
While Patterson was the most highly-rated quarterback out of high school in his 2016 class, he had some struggles at Michigan, after first playing at Ole Miss before an injury in 2017. Ta'amu took over for Patterson after his injury at Mississippi, then next appeared with the XFL's St. Louis Battlehawks in the short-lived league's first season.
It seems fair to speculate that the Chiefs plan on carrying at least four quarterbacks, either on the roster or between the roster and practice squad, as Moore would be trusted as an in-case-of-emergency option behind Mahomes and Henne, whereas Ta'amu and Patterson will likely both continue to battle for the right to hopefully develop under Reid as a long-term option as a backup for Mahomes as Henne and Moore, both 35 years old, likely near the end of their careers.
Update: The Chiefs later released Patterson, clearing a roster spot for Moore and leaving Ta'amu as a clear frontrunner to win the Chiefs' developmental QB spot, either on the active roster or practice squad.
