Patrick Mahomes seems to realize he may have to follow in the footsteps of legendary former quarterback Tom Brady’s footsteps to match Brady’s seven Super Bowl wins.
Tua Tagovailoa and Jordan Love signed big new contracts last week, with Love signing a four-year extension worth $220 million, the highest average annual salary in NFL history.
Mahomes, who led the Chiefs to three of the last four Super Bowl wins, was still in the middle of a 10-year, $450 million contract, the largest in the league at the time, but he has restructured his deal several times to increase his upfront cash flow or reduce the team’s cap burden.
He’s currently tied with Kirk Cousins for the 11th-highest annual salary among quarterbacks, but could likely drop further if Dak Prescott and the Cowboys agree to a new contract.
Is Mahomes sweating?
“Not necessarily,” he said. He told USA Today’s Jarrett Bell. last weekend.
“I think we’ve been good stewards of my finances, paid me a great salary and kept a great team around me. We’ve restructured a few times to increase cash flow at certain times and in certain years. It’s important to have good dialogue, good communication with the front office and ownership. We’ve done that here and we’ve been able to pay me a great salary and at the same time build a great team around me.”
Brady famously signed for significantly less than market value so that the Patriots, and later the Buccaneers, could reap more by surrounding him with quality personnel.
Mahomes probably has the power to force the Chiefs to pay him more right now, but he knows that in a salary-capped sport, adding more would mean sacrificing one or two other good players on the team.
“We’re doing a great job,” Mahomes continued, referring to the working relationship between the Chiefs’ front office and his agents. “The last time I rebuilt our team and moved money around, we talked about a year of when we could go back and do it again.
“It’s all about having a plan and constant communication, and we have that here. It’s nice to see the players going out and making as much money as they can, that’s great for the sport, but we have a great communication system here and we feel like we’ve done the best we can with what we can.”
ProFootballTalk founder Mike Florio noted that Mahomes remains the highest-paid quarterback in terms of cash flow over the next four seasons.
Mahomes figures to have a higher short-term cash flow than quarterbacks with larger annual contracts because, for example, Love and Tagovailoa each had a year remaining on their contracts before signing extensions and because NFL contracts are often structured so that the final year of a contract is paid out much more than the first.
Still, Mahomes told USA Today he’s happy to see his fellow quarterbacks making big bucks.
“It’s great for the game of football,” Mahomes said.
“It’s great for the quarterback position, but I think it’s the same for any position. I know every time a contract is signed, everybody looks at my APY (average annual yield) and stuff like that. Personally, I’m doing pretty well. For me, it’s just about going out there to win football games and ultimately make money for my family. In that respect, I feel like I’m doing a great job.”
