The Chiefs have revisited the contract in place with their star quarterback, agreeing to a signficant raise in the short- and intermediate-term future. Patrick Mahomes has agreed to a revised contract in which his compensation through 2026 is guaranteed, reports ESPN’s Adam Schefter.
Schefter notes that Mahomes will receive $210.6MM between now and 2026, the most in league history across a four-year span. Ian Rapoport of NFL Network adds the two-time Super Bowl MVP can earn up to $218.1MM over that stretch via escalators. He and the Chiefs will reconvene after the 2026 campaign to address their relationship, as that year now essentially marks the end of his monster extension first signed in 2020. 
That 10-year. $450MM pact has regularly led to speculation a signficant revision would be coming at some point down the road. After several (less accomplished) passers inked mega-deals of their own which exceeded his $45MM AAV, plenty have pointed to this offseason as a time when the defending champions may bring their passer back toward the top of the pecking order in terms of annual compensation. Schefter adds that Mahomes – who sat ninth in that regard after Joe Burrow‘s Bengals extension was signed – will now move “near the top” of the pile.
Knowing the likes of Burrow, Jalen Hurts, Lamar Jackson and Justin Herbert would be in line for enormous second contracts this offseason, Chiefs general manager Brett Veach said in April that Kansas City would wait for those pacts to be signed before addressing the Mahomes situation. Each member of that quartet took turns holding the title of the league’s highest-paid player on a per-year basis, eclipsing the $51MM AAV mark along the way.
A report emerged in May indicating the Chiefs may have an agreement in place by Week 1 ensuring Mahomes moved back to the top of the heap. That timeline has proven to be slightly off, but the just-turned 28-year-old will now carry on with the 2023 season knowing his future for the remainder of the campaign (and the three following it) is in a more certain position. The move comes not long after All-Pro defensive tackle Chris Jones signed a revised one-year deal to end his holdout in Kansas City.
“I’ve always said I worry about legacy and winning rings more than making money at this moment,” Mahomes said in the spring. “We see what’s going on around the league, but at the same time, I’ll never do anything that’s going to hurt us from keeping the great players around me. So it’s kind of teetering around that line.”
With Jones back in the fold – and open to a new Chiefs deal keeping him in place beyond 2023 – and cost certainty now having been attained with Mahomes – Kansas City can proceed with a clearer financial outlook. The team’s Super Bowl window will likely remain open as long as the latter is healthy, but efforts to maintain as many core pieces as possible will remain a top priority with Mahomes occupying a large portion of its cap sheet.
The two-time league MVP will continue to face massive expectations given not only the success he has enjoyed to begin his career, but also the move on the Chiefs’ part to accelerate substantial cash flow over a relatively short period of time. With the end of the 2026 season now looming as a (practical) end to his deal, it will be worth watching how he performs until that point with respect to his future earning potential.
salary cap is fake
So was the moon landing!
Please DO NOT tell me wrestling is too!!!
well the last time I went, a riot started and I was punched by a stranger in the eye… not fake, at least the fans are real
I think the last time a team was ‘over the cap’ was when Den won the SB for the 2nd time in the 90’s. Around 30 years ago. I have always found it strange that 32 teams have been 100% complaint for that long of a time.
We hear ‘cap’ every year and then watch billions get spent in FA.
At this point they are not even trying to hide the funds with a PM15 hydration and supplement company.
Only one who deserves this money.
Nobody playing a sport deserves that kind of money lol
He’s one of about 10 people in the world who can do it at an elite level, so yeah he does. His play generates the revenue. I suppose you want the owner to pocket all the money?
More like “one of about 10 people in Murica”. Very few outside Murica who play NFL style.
That doesn’t negate the truth of the statement
When you consider what owners are raking in with TV contracts alone? Yea, he deserves that much. I’d also say that there’s really only one guy that can do what he’s done. Him.
That’s not really a good sports argument. Go see the top 10 hockey players and their salaries and see the difference.
Revenue numbers I found for last year:
NFL: $18.6 Billion
NHL: $5.9 Billion
If the argument is based on the revenues the players help teams generate, I’d say this is a fair argument
Not sure player ‘generate’ for anyone but themselves and their agent. Most money comes from outside the league…..,it’s a product they’d sell to the devil if he had enough cash
The argument wasn’t what the revenues are, which is the correct argument by the way, it was “he is a top 10 talent in X profession in the world.” I don’t know how many of the top 10 professors or firemen or even top 10 golfers in the world are making what Pat does in his contract.
I understand this argument, and am not necessarily against it, but I will offer a counter: how much if that money is directly tied to Mahomes? If he dropped off the planet tomorrow, he will certainly be missed and difficult (near impossible, in all likelihood) to replace. But would the league make less money? Not likely. The NFL makes money because of what it is, not one single player-though stars make it much easier to advertise.
I would wager that no individual player makes the NFL that amount of money, if you could even narrow it down like that. A sum of that group of people, and the competition between them, does. Of course, we use this word “deserve” as if money made dictates the value of what someone does. No sports figure, or any entertainment figure, is as irreplaceable as they’re marketed. But they are, usually, exclusive in how rare their talent at that one particular activity is. Does that mean that they “deserve” the money they make? Depends on your interpretation. I’d say no, but then again, I’d also say that money is a more measure of a measure of your demand, not your worth. Related, possibly, but not exact.
I think that we can agree that Mahomes has made a better case than most for this contract, though. No, I don’t think he’s worth more as an entertainer than someone who saves lives or invents important infrastructure, but in the context of the NFL, he’s made a good case.
And, as to comparing this contract to how much the owners make…who said that they “deserve” it, either?
I get playing the elite players, but what’s happening is average QB’s are banking as well. Dan Jones is a prime example of that. Average QB making over $40m a season???
And then those average deals drive up the prices of the upper levels, which drive up the prices of the elite…it’s a nice system, if you don’t have the burning desire to always be making the most at all times. You can cruise comfortably under the radar with good press and a good paycheck.
I’ll give Jones credit, as an aside, for his performance against Arizona. He was the best player on the field (along with James Conner) for the contest. Granted, the Cardinals are likely to be one of the worst teams in the NFL, but still-it would have been easy to give up. His leadership was, at least for that game, worth what he was paid. We’ll see how the season goes, but he has at least been showing the leadership one demands for that contract so far. That’s not always the case after a big deal.
People forget that it’s the ‘fans’ causing these enormous money exchanges. If fewer people watched all the prices would tank in all the ‘sports’.
Going to games (silly), watching games on TV or ‘streaming’ (mesmerized zombies) or listening on radio (might get other things done?). Your choice of media is what drives the commercials that help finance adults wearing funny outfits playing a ‘kids’ game.
Yea I’m guilty too – radio, it’s what works in the mountains
Those tv contracts are helpful as well. Multibillion dollar deals non-stop.
now go get him some damn wide receivers
With what? Lemon wedges, a $5 dollar bill, and an autograph?
What’s the point of a 10 year contract if they redo it every other year? Does ‘restructuring’ circumvent the ‘cap’ that much?
Seems ‘converting to ‘bonus’’ is some kind of cap loophole.
Another ‘team / owner’ way to circumvent spending limits.
Mahomes enjoyed a record setting contract with huge guarantees which paid him half a billion dollars over ten years. There’s absolutely no reason for the Chiefs to have to renegotiate the contract. Mahomes could have filled the rest of “his bag” with endorsement money.
Greedy Mahomes has no wide receivers as he’s shown he can make mediocre WR looks like Pro Bowlers. Now he has bad WR whom even Mahomes can’t help. With Mahomes and Kelce’s contract on the books, the Chiefs had to choose between offensive line and WR. The Chris Jones raise won’t help either.
The NFL deeply deserves the car crash they are about to get with overpriced players within a salary cap. Both owners and NFLPA are at fault to allow the salary distribution to spin out of control like this.
If it hurts their chances to franchise tag Chris Jones I’m all for it.
The owners put up millions if not billions to buy a franchise. They have to pay for the stadium either by leasing it or building it themselves, they also have to pay all the office staff, scouts, coaches, travel expenses, food, equipment, uniforms, and support staff (groundskeepers, security, clubhouse staff, medical personnel etc). So why isn’t it fair for someone who puts out all that money to get a return on their investment? All the players have to do is show up, practice, and go home. If they don’t want to play anymore they should have a degree or be close to getting one from the college they attended, if they don’t that’s their problem. So many of these players don’t think about the fact they aren’t going to be making the big money forever and buy things they don’t need not thinking their one hard hit from never being able to play again. In my opinion no one on earth should be making 30-40-50 million dollars to play a game. There needs to be a hard cap on salaries and if the players don’t like the money go use that degree to earn some cash
My only retort is about who pays for stadiums- owners put forth a pittance and the public usually pays the rest. Understanding the ‘league’ has some kind of ‘loan process’ but I’d bet it’s a bogus slush fund of sorts or ‘charity’ money that never exits the ‘league’ coffers
Well, the Tampa Bay Rays are putting up over half of the money for the stadium they are going to pay over half of 1.3 billion stadium cost. I believe Jerry Jones paid for Cowboys Stadium. City and county should chip in because of increased revenue via taxes and the public spending. The city and/or county can always decline to help build a stadium and the team can move. (Raiders and A’s). If someone invests in something they have a right to expect a return, otherwise they are a fool. If we’re going to cap what an owner can earn then we will have to cap what players earn.
Buy us a stadium or we move is very uncool for very profitable businesses. All pro sports owners should be turned down and they can all try to build their own stadiums on their own money around NYC and LA.
Include Chargers, Seahawks, Rams as team that moved due to stadium issue.
Not being a part of any city stadium finance projects I can’t really say how the ‘money’ structure is laid out. I do know that in Seattle the ‘people’ voted to not put up funds to replace the Kingdome but the city/county ‘boards’ said fy and approved the bonds and such….with a debt liability that exceeds the term the team is required to ‘stay’ in said stadium