DECEMBER 29: During an appearance on Sports Radio 810 Monday (via Charles Goldman of A to Z Sports), Reid confirmed he will return to the Chiefs in 2026. While questions remain about Nagy and other members of Kansas City’s staff, Reid will extend his tenure with the team into a 14th season.
DECEMBER 21: An offseason tradition on the coaching front has featured Andy Reid swatting away retirement rumors. This season, however, will end with a rare set of meaningless Chiefs games. The three-time reigning AFC champions are eliminated from playoff contention. That separates this year even from the 2014 season, when Kansas City remained in the mix later into a 9-7 campaign — Reid’s only non-playoff showing with the franchise.
Reid and Patrick Mahomes have formed one of the best QB-HC combinations in NFL history, trekking to five Super Bowls and winning three championships together. But Mahomes is now set for extensive ACL and LCL rehab while Reid will turn 68 in March. Despite the Chiefs being set for unusual territory — as they navigate Mahomes rehab during an offseason in which they are unlikely to be labeled Super Bowl frontrunners — NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport and Tom Pelissero note Reid is not planning to retire in 2026.
[RELATED: Unusual Chiefs Season Set To Precede Roster-Building Challenges]
The Chiefs extended Reid in 2024; the deal is believed to have made the six-time conference champion the NFL’s highest-paid HC at around $20MM per year. Reid’s contract runs through the 2029 season, covering the Chiefs in this important area. Reid will bid to become the oldest coach to win a Super Bowl. Bruce Arians currently holds that title, having guided the 2020 Buccaneers to a championship at age 67.
It will be interesting to see how Reid’s offense looks to start the 2025 season. Mahomes’ timetable points to a decent chance he is back by Week 1, but that will not be a lock. How Mahomes looks as far as mobility goes will be a defining factor for the 2026 Chiefs, as they have derived plenty from the quarterback’s dual-threat skillset during a run that up until this season brought seven AFC championship game appearances in seven QB1 seasons.
The Chiefs also figure to make a real investment in the backfield. The Jets rejected a fourth-round offer for Breece Hall at the deadline, and both Kareem Hunt and Isiah Pacheco — a player who has seen injury trouble headline his past two seasons — are set for free agency. Travis Kelce is also not a lock to come back. The future Hall of Famer is unsigned for 2026. While Kelce has long said he would finish his career with the Chiefs, he would need a new deal to return for a 14th season.
Also set for free agency: OC Matt Nagy, who figures to draw some HC interest after three seasons back in a role he held briefly in the late 2010s. Nagy is believed to have turned down a Chiefs extension offer this past offseason, per Rapoport and Pelissero. As a result, the veteran Reid sidekick/ex-Bears coach will need a new deal to stay in Kansas City.
Nagy, 47, interviewed for the Jets’ HC job last year and has been connected to the Titans’ vacancy on a few occasions since Tennessee fired Brian Callahan. The former NFL Coach of the Year (with the 2018 Bears) worked with Titans GM Mike Borgonzi previously and figures to interview for that post.
While this Chiefs season being the one to launch Nagy back onto the HC level would be a bit odd given the disappointing performance, Kansas City’s offense has been a touch better this season. That said, the Chiefs enter Week 16 ranked 15th in points yet again.
The Chiefs made the Super Bowl with No. 15-ranked scoring offenses in 2023 and ’24, using Steve Spagnuolo‘s sound defenses to provide enough support for Mahomes and Co. post-Tyreek Hill and amid a Kelce decline. While it is possible Nagy rejected an extension offer coming off a clunky offensive season, the reasons for his declining the deal are not known.
These defensive-oriented teams did not garner Spagnuolo a second HC chance; the accomplished DC’s age (66 today) and woeful three-year run as the St. Louis Rams’ HC figures to keep him from a second chance. In a year set to feature a host of defense-oriented coaching candidates, Nagy will likely draw interest. Going 2-for-4 in playoff berths with the Bears with Mitch Trubisky as the primary quarterback has aged well, and it will be interesting to see if Nagy advances far into the process as an interviewee come January.
Anyone hiring Nagy as a HC will get what they deserve.
As a Life-Long Chiefs fan. It would not bother me to see him leave. He’s always been adequate but we all know Reid calls majority of the offensive plays
As a bears fan I can tell you he’s not a leader of men. His play calling was pretty terrible too, very predictable. Can’t blame him for taking another shot at it, but he’d caution anytime considering him as the answer. Just look at what a coach like Ben Johnson can do for an organization.
2026 is a make it or break it year for the Chiefs and could be another tough year
2027 Mahomes is schedule for a 78 mill cap hit and 2028 Mahomes is scheduled for a 74 mill cap hit. They’re also -35 mill in cap space for 2026 currently.
No point in restructuring other contracts and kicking the can down the road with Mahomes mega cap hits coming they’ll just screw themselves harder in 2027 and 2028.
They’re gonna need to trade back in rounds 1 and 2 at the very least for 2026 and look to acquire future draft picks in 2027 and 2028. Gonna have to say goodbye to some guys and take chances in some cheap veterans too. Maybe time to trade Trent McDuffie to get some extra draft picks as well.
I don’t see them re-signing McDuffie. They’ve always cycled their corners when they reach FA. They’ll probably see if they can get a one for him, and Jones probably has one more year before they let him go, either by retirement or move on from him in FA. They have a lot of rebuilding to do.
Nothing lasts forever right
You might be right, but until Mahomes is top flight again, they need the defense to stay strong and McDuffie is part of that even if they have to franchise him.
Reid used to be known for brain fades. Now he’s known as a proven winner in Kansas City and before that Philadelphia. It’s just that the Chiefs were eliminated in Week 15 through a perfect storm of early-game results.
Hence any retirement talk is total bull$#!t.
They need to completely rebuild that offensive line outside of Humphries and Smith, and they need to get Mahomes another elite tight end, which is why he’s struggled the last few years as Kelse has slowed down. It’s time to do a soft rebuild. They turned that whole defense and offensive line over after 2020, and now it’s time for them to do it again before Mahomes is in senior citizen status. The Broncos will start shedding players after this year, and the Chargers I still don’t think have that great of a roster but are coached at an elite level by Harbaugh. The Raiders are the Raiders. That’s always a reliable two wins.
Andy Reid has become so entrenched as a part of the NFL landscape that it’s difficult to even imagine him doing anything else but coaching. If he were to retire, he’s too old to become a wrestler and simply not sexy enough to become an exotic dancer 🙂
He’ll probably be doing State Farm commercials for a while. Eventually he’ll be advertising term life insurance and hearing aids like Joe Namath.
They won’t let him go, but he will have to pull out some of his best coaching next year. No Mahomes to improvise, when Mahomes returns and if the first year is a struggle they may look to move on from him. Reid has earned the chance to walk away when he wants though.
The 2015 season convinced me that Reid can handle adversity. The Chiefs got off to a terrible 1-5 start and lost Jamaal Charles for the season to make matters worse. Season should have been over right there but Reid somehow managed to rally his players and win the next 11 games before finally losing to the Patriots in the playoffs. A HC that can do something like that is special.
Reid isn’t going anywhere, hopefully Nagy will , but either way we’ll still have the same stale pass heavy, end around , shotgun handoffs as we do now, so predictable everyone knows what’s coming, won’t see what we’ve got with Dameon Pierce or Jalen Royals even tho a win doesn’t matter now, still running crappy Pacheco out there to start , he sucks, let’s see what we have with these guys we sign but don’t play