The Kansas City Chiefs have made an expected move to lock up their projected backup quarterback for the 2023 NFL season.
According to a report from Chiefs Digest’s Matt Derrick, Shane Buechele has received his qualifying tender from the team. He was one of three players set to become an exclusive rights free agent (ERFA) for Kansas City. He’s the second of that group to be tendered a contract along with TE Jody Fortson. The team had until 4:00 p.m. ET today to extend a qualifying offer or risk losing Buechele to free agency.
A former undrafted free agent out of SMU in 2021, Buechele is a player in which the Chiefs have invested a lot of developmental time. The 25-year-old started his rookie season off on the practice squad before being promoted to the 53-man roster at the midseason point. Kansas City kept him on the 53-man roster all of last season as well, even though he was a healthy scratch most weeks as the No. 3 quarterback behind Patrick Mahomes and Chad Henne.
With Henne now retired, this paves the way for Buechele to earn the backup quarterback job in Kansas City. In preseason Week 3 against the Green Bay Packers last year, Buechele got his most extensive look yet, throwing for 166 yards and two touchdowns in the 17-10 victory.
While the team isn’t actively looking at veteran backup options, they could add some more competition to the room through the draft or undrafted free agency. Practice squad player Chris Oladokun is the only other quarterback outside of Mahomes on the 90-man offseason roster
