Mahomes, KC ink first NFL deal worth over $500M
Patrick Mahomes' new deal with the Chiefs is the latest reminder of Kansas City's "very intentional" approach with their star quarterback's contracts, with the $500M deal serving as a "model negotiation."
Video Transcript
Yesterday, out of the blue, no warning.
And a lot of times it happens that way.
There had been no hint that there were any conversations.
There had been no tweets from any of the usual suspects that Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs are close to a new contract.
And then there it is, bang.
The Wonder Twins at ESPN FL, Adam Schefter and Ian Rapoport locking arms.
After years of bitter rivalry, they've come together.
It's the stuff of legend, if not cinema.
Rapoport and Schefter working together to dig through the dumpster.
They're Woodward and Bernstein chasing the facts that they don't want us to know.
Doggedly pursuing the truth of the relationship between I'm kidding.
It was texted to them.
That's how that's how the sausage is made.
It's hard work.
It's hard work sitting around waiting for your phone to ding.
That is very demanding.
but, but anyway, I digress.
Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs have a new contract.
And, th- this is exactly what we expected.
Remember when Patrick Mahomes signed that original 10-year, $450 million extension?
And my reaction was, "What in the hell are you do- wha- what are, what are we doing here?
What are we doing?
What's going on?"
I think that's the third straight day I've said that.
But Patrick Mahomes doesn't, like, you, you're tying yourself into this 45 million per year average, and the market's gonna keep going up.
But the Chiefs have consistently done right by him because he continues to play at a high level.
They, they don't pull out the contract and start pointing to paragraphs and clauses and saying, "Honor your contract."
They have, on multiple occasions since that contract was first done, gone back and reconfigured it.
And most importantly what they've done, Michael, set aside the big numbers through 2033, 504 million, yada, yada.
They always make sure that his cash flow over the next three or four years is competitive with the top of the market.
Everything else is just details.
I guarantee you when the dust settles on this, he will have the greatest cash flow of any quarterback this year, next year, the year after the year after that.
That's the key.
And when it needs to be reconfigured, it will be.
That's how the Chiefs and Mahomes have done business as long as Mahomes is playing at a high level.
They will do it as long as they're getting their end of it.
If he's ever not delivering, if it ever gets to a point where he, to continue the Pittsburgh Pirates theme, becomes Steve Blass and can't throw accurate passes, that's a different story.
But as long as he continues to be the guy that he's been for nearly a decade now, they will continue to ensure that he is paid from a cash flow short-term standpoint at the top of the market.
And that's the big takeaway.
Everything else looks good, I guess.
Yeah.
It's eye-popping.
It's good marketing for the agents who did it.
But this is all about what he's gonna be paid for the next two, three, four years, and then as the market continues to change, as the salary cap continues to go up, they'll do it again.
you know, Mike, I wonder how these negotiations go with Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs.
As you said, just kind of out of nowhere.
I know it's not o- out of nowhere for them.
They've been working on it.
They've been talking about it.
But I wonder what the tenor of the negotiations is.
I'm guessing it is, it is a, it is a tea and, and, and sandwiches kind of, kind of conversation.
It is a laid back, "Oh, your tur- I took a turn already.
You know, you were speaking.
I'll wait until you, you finish speaking, and then I'll speak.
Oh, take your time."
I mean, it is so This is like the model of, of what a star player in a franchise.
This is the model negotiation I would think of how it's supposed to go and how most players when they come out of college and they imagine that they'll And most of them are wrong, but they imagine they'll be with this franchise their entire career, and they, they'll win multiple championships, and everything will be great, and the fans will love them, and the organization will love them.
It usually doesn't work out like that.
But the Chiefs three times have adjusted Patrick Mahomes' contract, and each time it's clear that they believe, "Hey, Patrick, we don't want you to even think for a second that we don't appreciate you.
We don't want you to think that we're playing games with the market, and we play that game where we say, 'Hey, it's not our fault that other teams have overpaid their quarterbacks.
This is the contract you agreed to, and we expect you to fulfill it.'"
No.
The Chiefs are very clear, very intentional.
Patrick Mahomes is their guy, and they wanna make sure that he is paid like one of the best, if not the best quarterback in football.
And Mike, they'll probably adjust the contract again.
In a couple of years they'll adjust it again if the numbers keep going up.
They wanna make it clear to Patrick Mahomes that he's their guy.
So it's really interesting to see.
I can't really think of another example like this because I, I can tell you being here in Boston, it wasn't like this for Tom Brady.
You know, Tom Brady had some moments with the Patriots.
I mean, I It's a long relationship.
He had some moments with the Patriots.
He was like, "Well, wait a minute.
I, I, I kind of want a better contract than this."
And there were some tense moments.
I don't, I don't, I don't sense a hint, a hint of tension between the Chiefs and Patrick Mahomes.
Well, I do know that Mahomes pays very close attention to how the market moves.
I can't remember which quarterback it was, but as that quarterback was working toward his new deal, and it may have been Dak Prescott, possibly Lamar Jackson, Mahomes and Joe Burrow compare notes because each new deal, as we see these guys who are lesser quarterbacks than Patrick Mahomes get more money, Mahomes is paying attention to it.
And there's nothing wrong with that.
Because I've said this for a while now, Mahomes impact and value to the Chiefs and the NFL is dramatically more than whatever they'll ever pay him.
He's worth more than $100 million per year to the Chiefs and the NFL.
He's never gonna be paid for the full value that he brings to his team and to his industry.
Never.
Now, I know he's got endorsement deals, and nobody is suggesting that we need to have a bake sale or a car wash for Patrick Mahomes, but it is important for players who have no equity, who are the reason we watch, who have a limited number of years where they can earn that kind of money.
For quarterbacks, it's extended 'cause their careers are longer, especially the great ones, barring serious injury.
You get what you can while you can, 'cause once that window closes, that money's going to someone else, and hopefully you have invested well, you've saved enough.
Now, for the guys making the most money, it's not a big deal.
The other thing that this contract shows, too, the fact that they've done it now, Chiefs have no concerns whatsoever about the torn ACL.
They've got none.
They've got none.
'Cause it would've been very easy to say, "Let's just make sure you're You understand where we're coming from, Patrick?
This is a big commitment.
You had a serious injury.
Let's just make sure you're, you're yourself again."
Not on a practice field where you're not driving on that knee.
That was a point Chris made when we first showed this video.
He's not driving on that knee.
He's not testing that knee.
We, we wanna see week one- That's right week two, and then- Yep then we'll finalize it.
They didn't do that.
They're confident.
They're both confident that he's gonna be fine, and they're not gonna play that game with a guy who's worth twice what they're paying him.
Yeah.
it's a, it's a good point.
they wouldn't have done the deal if there's any doubt that something is gonna be off with Patrick Mahomes.
And you look at those numbers Now, the numbers, the numbers don't always tell the story with Patrick Mahomes.
Sometimes they do, and he You know, his first year as a starter, you know, eye-popping numbers.
Oh, that's Patrick Mahomes.
But they've won the Super Bowl in years where he hasn't had numbers like that, and you've wondered about their offense and the defense.
they've leaned on the defense at critical times and still won it.
So you look at 22 touchdowns, 11 interceptions, and you say, well, yeah, that's not really a, a, a guy that you're committing 500 million-plus, million, 500-plus million dollars to.
But I think they look at Patrick Mahomes physically, and I think they, they're pretty impressed or, or they're pretty confident about the offsu- off-season moves that they've made, whether that's bringing back Eric Bieniemy as their offensive coordinator, getting Kenneth Walker in the mix, just kind of reconfiguring, their offense and defense, but particularly their offense.
I think they, they look at it and say, "Uh, yeah, that 22 and 11 is an aberration.
22 and 11, and we're picking in the top 10?
That's not gonna happen again with Patrick Mahomes as our quarterback.
We're good going forward with this deal."
And regardless of how many more Super Bowls they win or get to, or even qualify for the playoffs, it's still Patrick Mahomes.
They've got a new stadium coming.
They continue to be the darlings of the NFL.
The Chiefs have a following like they've never had before.
They get their fair share of primetime games.
Now, it dipped a little bit based upon what happened last year, and they do wanna reestablish themselves, but having Patrick Mahomes makes you relevant every year.
It makes you competitive every year.
It makes you a threat every year.
And they appreciate what they have.
And they're not paying him for what he's already done.
They anticipate that he's going to continue to be the guy that he's always been.
And again, they'll go back and they'll reconfigure it when the rest of the market adjusts according-
