Patrick Mahomes Close to Full Clearance. The Chiefs Might Have a Problem Anyway.

The Kansas City Chiefs are getting the best news they could have hoped for this offseason. Patrick Mahomes is nearing full medical clearance from the torn ACL and LCL he suffered last December, according to NFL insider Albert Breer. The timeline has been aggressively optimistic for months, and it looks like that optimism was warranted.

Mahomes was already working through install periods, individual drills and 7-on-7 work during OTAs. That’s not typical for a quarterback coming off a multi-ligament knee repair with surgery in December. Breer reported that Mahomes is trending toward being fully cleared relatively soon, though the team is expected to be careful with him early in training camp. Because when you tell him to go, he goes.

The Chiefs traded for Justin Fields this offseason as insurance in case Mahomes wasn’t ready for Week 1. That move now looks like a luxury backup situation rather than a necessity. Fields gives them a capable Plan B, but nobody in Kansas City wants to see him start meaningful games.

The Real Issue Isn’t Mahomes’s Knee

Here’s the thing. Even with Mahomes at full strength, the roster around him has some real question marks. The Chiefs did not address wide receiver in any meaningful way this offseason. They’re rolling into 2026 with an aging Travis Kelce, Rashee Rice coming off an injury of his own, and Xavier Worthy trying to prove he can handle a bigger role. That group is volatile at best.

They did add Kenneth Walker III to the backfield, which should help the run game pop. The offensive line projects to be solid. But the passing attack is going to rely heavily on Mahomes making something out of nothing. Again. That’s been the formula before, and it worked because he’s Patrick Mahomes. But the margin for error gets thinner every year.

The Chiefs missed the playoffs last season after a 2025 campaign where nothing went right. Their Super Bowl window hasn’t slammed shut, but it’s not as wide open as it was a couple years ago. A healthy Mahomes changes the math on everything. But even he can’t block for himself or run routes.

Kansas City will be judicious with him early in camp, per Breer. They should be. The goal isn’t to have him ready for August practices. It’s to have him ready for January football. If that means limiting him in July, that’s a price worth paying.