Justin Fields Reportedly Traded to Chiefs from Jets Amid Mahomes Injury Rehab, Updated Salary Cap

After just one year together, Justin Fields' time with the New York Jets has come to an end.

The Jets traded Fields to the Kansas City Chiefs on Monday, according to ESPN's Adam Schefter.

Ian Rapoport of NFL Network reported more details:

This comes as Chiefs starter Patrick Mahomes is rehabbing a torn ACL suffered in Week 15.

Fields signed a two-year, $40 million contract with New York in free agency last offseason that included $30 million in guarantees. Ian Rapoport and Tom Pelissero of NFL Network reported:

Per Over The Cap, Kansas City had $12.9 million in cap space prior to the move. New York, meanwhile, had $40.8 million in cap space, per Over The Cap.

Fields was immediately handed the Jets' starting job upon his arrival to the Big Apple. Despite some growing pains in training camp, first-year head coach Aaron Glenn never wavered from that decision heading into the season.

Unfortunately, things quickly went off the rails. The Jets started the season with seven straight losses, and Fields was benched with seven games remaining in the year. He eventually was placed on injured reserve while dealing with what was described as "knee soreness." New York finished with a 3-14 record and landed the No. 2 pick in the 2026 NFL draft.

In his nine starts, Fields threw for 1,259 yards, seven touchdowns and one interception while completing 62.7 percent of his passes. He also added 383 rushing yards and four rushing touchdowns. He was criticized directly by team owner Woody Johnson at one point, telling reporters, "It's hard when you have a quarterback with a rating that he's got. I mean, he has ability, but something just is not jiving."

Fields will now look for a fresh start with a new team, and depending on how Mahomes' rehab goes, he could potentially get a chance to be the starter at the beginning of the season.

New York—who traded for Geno Smith last week—owns the longest active playoff drought in the NFL at 15 straight years, so it remains to be seen if Glenn and general manager Darren Mougey will be able to turn things around.