Justin Fields has another reason to smile about his big move to Kansas City.
The Kansas City Chiefs are acquiring the veteran quarterback Fields from the New York Jets in a trade. It was revealed on Monday that Fields is headed to the Chiefs in exchange for draft-pick compensation (full details here).
Later in the day on Monday, Ian Rapoport of NFL Network revealed one interesting detail about the Fields trade. Fields is getting an $8 million signing bonus from the Jets as part of the trade. With the Chiefs also set to pay $3 million of Fields’ guaranteed salary, Fields will now be earning a total of $11 million as a result of the deal.
Fields was originally slated to make $10 million guaranteed in 2026 from New York. But now, Fields is getting a $1 million raise and is also heading to a much better team in the Chiefs for his troubles.
Meanwhile, the Jets are benefiting from the trade too. In addition to the future pick, they are actually saving more money by eating the remainder of Fields’ guaranteed salary than they would have saved simply by releasing him.
The former first-round pick Fields, still only 27, made nine total starts for the Jets last season, throwing for 1,259 yards with seven touchdowns to just one interception (adding four rushing TDs as well). But he ended up getting benched by New York in Week 12 and was eventually put on season-ending injured reserve due to a knee issue.
Now Fields should be getting another (brief) opportunity to start next season in Kansas City with three-time Super Bowl MVP Patrick Mahomes still recovering from an ACL tear. With Mahomes’ former backup Gardner Minshew also leaving in free agency to sign with an NFC team, Fields will be in line for a cushy job as the Chiefs’ QB2 once Mahomes gets back.
