For the first time since Andy Reid took the reins in 2013, the Kansas City Chiefs failed to make the playoffs. That's arguably the lone stain on an otherwise flawless résumé by one of the greatest offensive playcallers of all time.
However, as beloved and respected as Coach Reid is, football is a ruthless business with a short memory. It's never about what you did in the past, but people, most notably billionaire team owners, only care about the present and the future.
Bill Belichick and the New England Patriots recently proved that no one's truly safe in the National Football League. So, since Reid is the league's highest-paid head coach at $20 million a year, the Chiefs might show him the door if the team fails to live up to the expectations again in 2026.
Would the Chiefs fire Andy Reid after another losing season?
The Chiefs won just six games last season. That's pretty much unacceptable with Patrick Mahomes at the helm, and while that's not all on the head coach, it's hard to deny there were red flags and signs for years.
This team won every one-possession game two years ago, but that luck was simply unsustainable. At some point, they were due for some regression, and it just happened to happen all at once. That's just how math and sports work.
As such, some aren't as fond of Reid as they used to be. There's a case to be made for this team not being as good as the record showed for quite a while now. Then again, they still took care of business with consecutive Super Bowl wins, so there was no objective way to point that out.
Reid has done more than enough to earn the benefit of the doubt, but he's not getting any younger. Some might be worried that the rest of the league has finally caught up to him, especially with some of his best players also getting up there in age.
Even at 68, Reid has expressed no desire to walk away from the game; however, we've seen how quickly things can change in this line of business, especially for aging head coaches. Also, with Eric Bieniemy back in the fold, there's a natural successor ready to step into the spotlight.
Of course, this isn't to say that the Chiefs should definitely part ways with Reid or force him to consider retirement if they don't do well this season. However, given how things work in this line of business, that will at least be a conversation if the Chiefs don't make the playoffs in 2026.
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