Here’s What Could Block Anthony Richardson to Chiefs

“I know people are going to sit and go, ‘But why? They have Patrick Mahomes; he's going to come back from an ACL injury. They don't need a backup quarterback,’” said Louis Riddick, who worked with Reid in Philadelphia from 2008-12, Friday morning on Get Up.

“No. Anthony Richardson needs Kansas City. I've seen Andy redo this before. I've seen him take players who people had kind of like thrown out, like Michael Vick, and he just rehabbed the guy and the guy wound up having a resurrection and having a second act to his career. That's exactly what Anthony needs. He needs that structure down there. He needs that quarterback room.”

Do the Chiefs need Richardson?

However, while Richardson might need Reid and the Chiefs, do the Chiefs need Richardson? As Riddick mentioned, Reid has handled similar situations in the past. When Vick set out to relaunch his career, the Eagles welcomed him even though they already had Donovan McNabb and Kevin Kolb.

Obviously, the Chiefs would need to see some value beyond simply helping Richardson. Reid and his Eagles staff developed packages for Vick and eventually worked him into roles that forced opponents to gameplan differently. And after McNabb moved on, Vick eventually took over the starter’s role, too.

No question, the Chiefs could create packages for Richardson to capitalize on his strengths, but how much they want to take Mahomes off the field is a serious question. But Reid and his staff have shown time and time again, even last year when they aligned Travis Kelce in the backfield on a goal-line touchdown called back by penalty, that they can innovate creative concepts.

Obviously, they wouldn’t acquire Richardson in order to groom him as a future starter. They want Mahomes as their quarterback as long as the sun rises every morning.

Can the Chiefs get Richardson?

Richardson is still on his rookie contract, but that contract is expensive from draft-pick standards because he went No. 4 overall. Colts general manager Chris Ballard reportedly agreed to work with Richardson and his agent to find a team best suited for the quarterback’s future. After all, he’s only 24.

But whether Brett Veach wants to part with valuable draft capital – and what the Colts are willing to accept – certainly seems to make Richardson in a Chiefs uniform highly improbable. Kansas City has only five picks in 2026 as of Friday morning. And because Richardson went fourth overall, Ballard obviously wouldn’t want to simply give him away.

Perhaps Minnesota might be a better fit for the intriguing youngster, whose situation is vastly different than that of Sam Darnold over the last few years.

“I think in 2027,” Riddick continued, citing the Chiefs as the best landing spot, “then you will get the best version of Anthony Richardson.”

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