Report: Jets ‘finalizing’ Justin Fields trade to Chiefs

The Kansas City Chiefs are reportedly adding a new quarterback to their roster. According to ESPN’s Adam Schefter, the New York Jets are finalizing a trade that will send Justin Fields to Kansas City.

The deal is pending a physical, though sources told ESPN that multiple teams showed interest before Fields ultimately expressed a preference to join the Chiefs. Fields spent last season in New York after arriving with hopes of stabilizing the Jets’ quarterback situation. 

However, the former first-round pick appeared in only nine games during the 2025 season. He completed 62.7 percent of his passes for 1,259 yards with seven touchdowns and one interception while adding 383 rushing yards and four touchdowns on the ground.

His season was cut short when he suffered a knee injury and was placed on injured reserve following a Nov. 13 matchup against the New England Patriots. The Jets struggled throughout the year, finishing 3–14 overall and going 2–7 in games started by Fields.

Head coach Aaron Glenn acknowledged the disappointment surrounding the season while discussing Fields’ situation late in the year: “This is for any player that doesn’t have the season we would like for them to have. It’s always disappointing,” Glenn said.

“I don’t want to focus on Justin with this. Any player that we have high hopes for, and the season doesn’t go the way we wanted to go, we’re always disappointed in that.”

Fields was slated to remain under contract with the Jets for the 2026 season with a $23 million cap hit, but New York’s quarterback situation shifted significantly earlier this offseason. The Jets recently acquired quarterback Geno Smith in a trade with the Las Vegas Raiders. 

That move effectively reshaped the team’s plans under center. In the deal, the Raiders sent Smith and a 2026 seventh-round pick to New York in exchange for a 2026 sixth-round selection.

The move also marked a return for Smith. He originally began his NFL career with the Jets after the team selected the former West Virginia Mountaineers star in the second round of the 2013 NFL Draft. Smith started 29 games during his first three seasons with New York before injuries and roster changes led him to bounce around the league with stints on the New York Giants and Los Angeles Chargers.

His career resurgence came with the Seattle Seahawks. There, he won the starting job in 2022 and earned NFL Comeback Player of the Year honors along with his first Pro Bowl selection. Now, with Smith back in New York and Fields headed to Kansas City, both quarterbacks will begin new chapters in very different roles as the NFL offseason continues to reshape rosters across the league.

— On3’s Nick Geddes and Alex Byington contributed to this article.