Chiefs: A Contract Extension for Patrick Mahomes – a topic that should be at the front of GM Brett Veach’s mind, is the contract extension for the Kansas City Chiefs quarterback extraordinaire, Patrick Mahomes II. Now that Mahomes third regular season is complete, he and the team are able to come to terms with a contract that will undoubtedly make Mahomes the NFL’s highest paid player.
Why Extend Now?
There are several reasons that I believe it would benefit the team to reach an extension with Mahomes sooner, rather than later. The first reason is the current CBA (Collective Bargaining Agreement) is coming to a close after next season. Why is this important?
Top quarterbacks are getting paid in the 18% to 20% range of the salary cap for the year they sign as a per year average. The 2020 cap is projected at about $200 million dollars. 20% of $200M is $40M per year, which is the number being thrown around by “people in the know” for what Mahomes could be getting paid.
It’s also being projected that the 2021 salary cap, under a new and revised CBA could take a huge leap, maybe as high as $240 million. Now, Mahomes agent could easily claim that if the Chiefs were willing to pay 20% of the 2020 cap, they should be willing to pay 20% of the 2021 cap. Well, 20% of $240M would be $48M/year average.
My preference would be to get Mahomes extension done now, and if — this could be a big if — the salary cap takes that huge of a jump, then Mahomes salary is basically covered just by the cap increase.
An even bigger reason to get Mahomes extension done soon, is that contracts by players in the NFL are always a oneupmanship game for players of the same position. In other words: the next guy always has to get more than the last one did… and on and on it goes.
Deshaun Watson has already stated he wants Mahomes to get paid first so he can get more, this is just the name of the game. So, if Mahomes and his agent will cooperate, let’s be the leader of the pack and set a precedent that will make the rest of the teams in the NFL squirm.
Not only is there Watson, but Mitch Trubisky (if he can get his game together), then Baker Mayfield, and then Sam Darnold and Josh Allen: who were all top 10 picks a year after Mahomes was selected in 2017. Let’s not forget Lamar Jackson. Last year’s crop of QB’s were Kyler Murray, Daniel Jones and Dwayne Haskins, plus we might be able to include Drew Lock. Also, Dak Prescott in Dallas is soon to be a free agent. So, Mahomes contract extension, if finalized as soon as possible, could already affect over a fourth of the teams in the NFL for the next couple years, and this doesn’t include the teams that will be drafting QBs early in the draft for the next 3-4 drafts. Pus, Patrick Mahomes will still be the best QB in the league.
First Things First
If I were Brett Veach, the first thing I’m doing is exercising the fifth year option on Mahomes rookie contract. Mahomes will be in the fourth year of his rookie contract for the 2020 season, with a cap hit of about $5.26M. The fifth year option would pay him approximately $24M for the 2021 season.
6 Years for 240 Million Dollars
I would be offering Mahomes a 6-year extension worth $240M, or $40M/year. Combined with the last year of his rookie deal and the 5th year option, this would secure Mahomes as a Chief through the 2027 season, in other words, about 4-5 Super Bowls.
I would give Mahomes an $80M signing bonus, that would be spread out over the first 5 years of his contract, and that would include the final year of his rookie deal and the 5th year option. Therefore, the last 3 years of his contract would only be base salary and incentives, which would make it very easy to make this a back loaded contract and would make him very affordable for the 2025 through 2027 seasons.
An $80M signing bonus would be paid at $16M/year for 5 years, starting in 2020. That would mean next year, Mahomes cap hit would be the $16M, plus the $5.26M of the 4th year of his rookie contract, for a total of about $21.26M. Which coincidentally is about the exact amount of cap carryover we will have from the 2019 cap. Assuming the 5th year option value of $24M, plus the signing bonus, would give Mahomes a cap hit of about $40M for the 2021 season. That number doesn’t seem scary at all if the cap takes that big jump.
Guarantees and Incentives
The fully guaranteed dollars would have to be in the $120M range, with total guarantees of at least $150M. This would be such a fun contact to work on, as the incentives that could be added and applied would almost seem endless. A list of incentives could include:
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- Passing yards per season
- Passing touchdowns per season
- There could even be per game incentives for the same.
- Winning the AFC West
- Being AFC Champs
- Winning the Super Bowl
- Being League MVP
- Being named All Pro
The list could go on.
Mahomes Contract Conclusion
This is a project that I really hope Brett Veach gets accomplished in the next few weeks. I would love to see an extension to Mahomes completed before the beginning of the 2020 league year, which begins at 3 PM Central time on March 18th.
Paul Pulley — ArrowheadOne
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