Jets Find Trade Partner For QB Justin Fields

The New York Jets are officially moving on from Justin Fields.

Now the former starter, Fields will not be the backup to Geno Smith in 2026, but to Patrick Mahomes in Kansas City, as the Jets traded him to the Chiefs on Monday. ESPN's Adam Schefter won the race to tweet the news first. More details quickly rolled in: the NFL Network's Tom Pelissero reported that the Chiefs are sending a 2027 sixth-round pick back to the Jets in the deal, and later added that the Chiefs are taking on $3 million of Fields' guaranteed salary.

Pelissero explained that this means the Jets were able to effectively offset the money and draft pick compensation they sent to the Raiders to bring Smith back to New York, making this essentially a Fields-for-Smith swap at the starting QB spot.

Fields started only nine games for the Jets in 2025, completing 62.7% of his passes for 1,259 yards, seven touchdowns and an interception through the air, good for just an 89.5 passer rating. The Jets are now hoping that Smith, meanwhile, can regain his 2021-22 form for Seattle, when he posted a 101.2 passer rating with 35 touchdowns against 12 interceptions over 21 games.

As for the Chiefs, they get an athletic backup for Mahomes, who is recovering from a torn ACL suffered late in the 2025 regular season. They're hoping head coach Andy Reid can get more out of Fields that any of his other coaches have been able to in his career.