While Aaron Rodgers broke the $50MM-per-year barrier in 2022, the Packers quarterback signed an unusually structured deal that tacked on three years to his previous pact. Jalen Hurts‘ $51MM-AAV accord represented a true long-term deal in this price range, moving another quarterback past Patrick Mahomes.
The Chiefs and Mahomes worked on his outlier deal in 2020, and the sides reached an agreement on a 10-year extension worth $450MM. At the time, Mahomes’ AAV stood $10MM north of the NFL’s second-highest average salary. The field caught up with the superstar passer quick. Hurts’ deal bumps Mahomes down to fifth among QB AAV, and the Joe Burrow and Justin Herbert extensions will almost definitely drop the two-time MVP out of the top five.
It would be unusual for a team to renegotiate with a player with this many years of control remaining on his contract, and the Chiefs are not committing to doing so. Then again, the franchise’s previous pre-Mahomes Super Bowl berth occurred in 1969. The team should not be expected to enter into a contract squabble with the three-time Super Bowl starter. Brett Veach said Thursday the team would reassess where its QB stands after the Bengals and Chargers lock up their passers.
“We have a special relationship with [Mahomes] and his agent. We’re in constant communication,” Veach said. “It’s one of those things — and I think coach [Andy Reid] hinted on this in his last press conference — where as soon as one guy gets done, it’s kind of the blueprint and the model. And a few years later, it’s jumped and exceeded.
“But I think that this organization and the relationship we have with Pat will always be working to make sure that we’re doing right by everybody. There will be a couple more contracts that still have to get done — Burrow and Herbert — and once they do, I think you kind of look at everything and assess where you are and what you can do and take it from there.”
After Rodgers signed his third contract (worth $22MM on average) back in 2013, the quarterback market did not move much for the next four years. By 2017, Derek Carr had only raised the AAV bar to $25MM. Kirk Cousins‘ fully guaranteed pact in 2018 ($28MM per) opened the floodgates, and the position’s importance obviously gives the game’s reliable starters considerable leverage. The QB market spiked from $35MM (Russell Wilson‘s third-contract AAV from an April 2019 agreement) to $50MM over a three-year span, and Hurts has set the table for Burrow and Herbert to move it higher. This leaves Mahomes in a strange place.
Lapping his peers in terms of accomplishments, the two-time Super Bowl MVP is signed through 2031. No other QB’s deal runs past 2028; the passers extended since Mahomes’ contract have understandably preferred traditional structures to maximize leverage while still in their primes. Mahomes, 27, has not made a known push to receive any raise, and his contract does contain guarantee mechanisms — which lock in salaries a year out — that protect him. But as the market keeps rising, Mahomes’ deal will continue to be surpassed by players who have achieved far less.
The six-year veteran played most of the 2022 playoffs with a high ankle sprain, aggravating it multiple times. While Mahomes does not appear danger of missing offseason time, he said this week (via NFL.com’s James Palmer) the ankle is not fully healed yet. Mahomes, who underwent toe surgery in 2021 and missed workouts during that offseason, said swelling has subsided and he is navigating independent offseason workouts fine. He worked out with Boston College receiver prospect Zay Flowers on Wednesday. But pain remains at times. Still, Mahomes said (via Palmer) he does not expect to be limited during OTAs. Mahomes has not missed a full game due to injury since 2019.
What’s the point of a contract if once it’s exceeded old ones need to be reassessed. The NFL contract structure and tagging system is dumb.
Yes you agree to salary, why should your company give you a raise if you did well at the end of the year.
His contract includes raises.
link to overthecap.com
Mahomes deserves a $75M or $100M AV contract right? That way the team will be Mahomes and UDFA’s.
The dumb part is these other fools keep paying more for QB’s that Pat dominates…
Because I don’t work on a fixed contract. It is performance based. If they wanted to commit 10 years to me for a set amount of money and I agreed to it then that’s the contract. If I do badly they can fire me but they have to pay me. They’re two totally different things.
And it has nothing to do with doing well or not, it has to do with re-setting the market due to other contracts. Getting a raise for performing well is different than getting a raise every-time a different company gave an inferior player a higher salary than mine. At that point just let KC control his rights for X amount of years and each year they determine his salary based on amounts given to other players and the cap changes. There’s no point to agree to future amounts anymore. And to further show your point makes no sense, what if Mahomes has a bad year and is paid beyond his contributions, you think he’s gonna get paid less?
Never mind guaranteed contracts. Eventually some team, may give a player a market contract. That is to say, their salary would always be the highest for their position. This would be a cap nightmare and you’d want some protections from having to pay someone with a torn ACL,etc.
But if/when a market contract gets signed, that will be a game changer.
Clearly that would be a deal for the player, not necessarily the team. The team could get some leverage back if they were to control options that would extend the contract to keep said player away from Free Agency. In that scenario it would be sort of a never ending tag.
I understand few guys ever WANT to take less, but Mahomes is due half a billion on this contract alone, and has a crazy number of endorsements. Bro could stay on this contract, make loads, AND challenge Brady’s SB record.
He won’t sniff Brady’s record. I think you’re underestimating how big of an accomplishment that is, Mahomes is not Brady. I am not a fan of either team in this league. It is incredibly rare for a run like Brady had, if that is your benchmark for Mahomes, you will likely be disappointed.
I get what your saying bout Brady but Mahomes has a really good chance to be Brady’s record
no, no he doesnt, wont even sniff it.
I have a feeling that they are looking at the guaranteed dollars and not annual salary or total amount.
Mahomes should ask for a percentage of the team. Saves salary cap w/ big raises each year.
I believe any ownership stake would still count into that cap if it’s in writing.
At some point the QB position will have to be granted a cap exempt status if the league wants to stick with the passer centric model. That model will still result in an escalation of salaries at other positions so a rethink needs to be considered.
Wow, a half a billion dollars is not enough to lock up a QB’s career?
I agree with DarkSide that there’s a lot of money in endorsements on the table. If Mahomes stays at the salary number he’s at now, the Chiefs can keep winning and he can keep cashing in on endorsements. Take more money out of the salary cap pot, the Chiefs will win less and Mahomes will lose more in endorsements than he will make extra in salary.
Salary cap goes up too….
Mahomes should pull a Brady – and just have his owner line up some sweetheart real estate deals in lieu of extra cap dollars.
And Maholmes can start a side company and the Chiefs can engage in those services to get around the cap too!
Just like TB12!
Mahomes has been to three Super Bowls in six seasons. They play in a very weak division they can dominate. Chargers don’t have a home field,.Raiders are a mess and we will see if Payton can do anything with Russell Wilson. One of big keys for Brady getting to Super Bowl was dominating division and getting home field advantage. Having the homefield last year was huge for KC. AFC has a lot of good teams, the weakness of other teams in AFC West is a boon to Mahomes shot at making run at Brady Super Bowl records.
So says someone who wanted the Raiders to return to Los Angeles. The Chargers have a more legitimate claim to L.A., plus they share a stadium with the Rams.
no chance, nothing but a pipe dream.
One could argue homefield was given to the Chiefs due to the Bills/Bengals cancelation.
Better send those refunds — CIncy was never going to host an AFC Championship game against K.C.
Who said anything about Cincy?
The difference here being, Mahomes is NOT a narcissistic prima donna cancer to his team.
He won’t be putting his ego above the front office’s ability to field a talented roster, which allows him to continue to compete at an elite level.
If I had to guess, he’s fine with his current contract… and knew it wouldn’t be at the top for long… and has millions in endorsements from State Farm, adidas, etc, to make him comfortable the rest of his life.
…a la Michael Jordan ( does anyone remember him having contract disputes? nope, just 6 titles)
Mahomes is cut from the same cloth.