Why Reid Waiting Could Be a Good Thing for Chiefs

Path No. 5

As hot candidates receive requests and log onto their virtual interviews, Andy Reid’s patience could pay off.

In addition to the four paths his offensive-coordinator decision could take, Path No. 5 has yet to surface – although it might be rocketing like a missile launched from a submarine.

Matt LaFleur has won 79 games in seven seasons (2019-25) as Packers head coach. But Green Bay dropped a 31-27 playoff game in disappointing fashion on Saturday night, blowing a 21-3 lead. And with John Harbaugh getting ready to kick off a week of serious interviews, the Packers may want to enter the fray.

If that happens and the Packers do move on from LaFleur, Reid’s patience could be rewarded. The Chiefs head coach said Monday he wasn’t in a hurry to make any moves regarding his offensive coordinator, noting he had internal and external candidates.

And if LaFleur becomes an external candidate for Reid, that likely won’t happen for a few weeks. LaFleur certainly would interview for many of the vacant head-coach roles before settling for offensive-coordinator openings.

LaFleur won 13 games each of his first three seasons (2019-21) but his offenses haven’t consistently ranked among league leaders in either points or yards. Under LaFleur, the Packers’ two best scoring seasons were 2020, when they ranked first, and 2024, when they were eighth.

This past season, Green Bay ranked 16th in points and 15th in yards per game.

LaFleur has won with his backup quarterbacks, unlike Chiefs

But LaFleur combined with Mahomes could be something special.

And if ever Mahomes can’t start – perhaps as early as the beginning of the 2026 season as the quarterback returns from Dec. 15 knee surgery – LaFleur has proven successful with backup quarterbacks.

While Mahomes backups are only 2-8 over his eight seasons as a starter (2018-25), LaFleur has successfully navigated the transition from future Hall of Famer Aaron Rodgers to first-round draft choice Jordan Love.

And without Love, LaFleur won both games with Malik Willis in 2024 and got another strong effort from him two weeks ago.

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