KC Chiefs QB Patrick Mahomes ‘In a Great Spot’ Following Contract Restructure

With an updated deal in hand, Mahomes is grateful and excited to get back to focusing on football.

When the Kansas City Chiefs signed Patrick Mahomes to his first contract extension beyond his rookie deal, both sides knew they'd eventually revisit things and construct a new agreement down the road. Just a few years later, that's exactly what happened.

News broke on Monday that the Chiefs had restructured Mahomes's contract, moving money from future years up to be doled out until the end of the 2026 campaign. It's expected that talks for a re-up will likely result in another agreement being reached before the start of the 2027 season, by which time the quarterback market will undoubtedly be altered once again. It's a fluid long-term situation, as Mahomes has made it clear plenty of times that he wants to be a Chief for the entirety of his career.

With the new deal giving Mahomes better cash flow and also providing the team with a unique timing-based benefit, it appears that both sides are more than satisfied with how things panned out. On Wednesday, Kansas City's superstar quarterback discussed how he feels being supported by the franchise that drafted him back in 2017.

"I’m in a great spot," Mahomes said. "I have a lot of great people around me, very thankful to the Hunt Family and the Chiefs organization and glad that now I can just go out there and play football. You get that security, and I already had it but to just to get a little bump and then be able to go back out there and just play football, I’m excited for it.”

Under his new structure, Mahomes is set to make an NFL record amount of money over a four-year span. He's still technically under contract through 2031 but given the movement of funds from the future to the present, things will surely change once the ink dries next time. With fellow star quarterbacks such as Joe Burrow ($55 million per year), Justin Herbert ($52.5M AAV), Lamar Jackson ($52M AAV) and Jalen Hurts ($51M AAV) all being signed to lucrative contracts as of late, Mahomes's previous average of $45M per year put him near the tail end of the top 10 for signal-callers across the league.

Now, this update bridges the gap for the quarterback market and allows for much better optics the next time a star comes to the negotiation table. The flip side of the coin is that the Chiefs are now on the hook for higher cap hits in restructured years, although general manager Brett Veach and company can always create room with mechanisms such as converting some of a signing bonus and spreading the difference out over five years. Mahomes getting a raise won't be the reason why Kansas City can't add more talent. 

When asked about striking a balance between making a lot of money but also finding ways to keep important pieces around him, Mahomes acknowledged that it's challenging.

“I mean, it’s hard," Mahomes said. "You get to watch and see what’s going on around the league and find that right spot, and I thought we found a good one in this negotiation that we did that we’ll be able to still keep cap space for other guys to get signed but obviously, I got a little bit more money upfront and then we’ll kind of redo it and re-negotiate it whenever we get to that mark that we talked about. It’s a special place and a special relationship that I have with the team to be able to trust them to be able to — even when I signed the last contract knew that this was going to happen and then probably going to happen again at some point.”

With the Chiefs and the face of the franchise now resting assured knowing that things are taken care of, both sides can shift their entire focus back to football. Mahomes has been consistent with his messaging regarding legacy and winning in the past, which is something he's continuing to do in light of his restructured contract. No. 15 realizes the importance of money and while he's grateful for that, his eyes are still on the ultimate prize.

“I always feel like I’m under pressure to go out there and succeed," Mahomes said. "I feel like that’s a standard that I have on myself, and I want to go out there and maximize this opportunity that I have. I always talk about not having any regrets and I mean money is the money; it’s awesome, it’s amazing, I know I can do a lot of great things not only for myself but for the people who have given me so much. But at the end of the day, I’m going to look back on how I played the game and I hope that that’s intensity and leaving everything out there and hopefully that means winning a lot of football games.”

Read More: Former Chiefs OL Laurent Duvernay-Tardif Announces Retirement From Football