The quarterback’s agent texted the Chiefs 48 hours before his second Super Bowl win. Seven months later, the team fulfilled its side of a promise that, everyone hopes, will lead to the signal-caller spending the rest of his career in Kansas City.
On the Friday night before Super Bowl LVII, Patrick Mahomes’s agent Chris Cabott texted the Chiefs, nudging them on the idea of redoing the transcendent quarterback’s contract. The response: In 48 hours, Mahomes would be a champion again, and at that point the team would work through all the “wonderfulness” that comes with that. Sure enough, the 27-year-old held up his end of the bargain, outgunning the Eagles in a wild Super Bowl shootout to win his second ring. And seven months later, the team has fulfilled its side of a promise that, everyone hopes, will lead to Mahomes being a Chief for the rest of his career.
After spending the past six months exploring amending the 10-year extension Mahomes signed in 2020 for the current fast-changing NFL economic times—and last month working on it in earnest—the team and its franchise player reached agreement on a unique restructure for a unique talent who’s spent the past five years at the pinnacle of the sport.
What’s different about this quarterback deal is it adds no new years and no new money, but pushes all kinds of cash forward to recognize where the market has gone in the three years since the sides did their 2020 deal. Mahomes will now make $208.1 million between 2023 and ’26, the most money over a four-year span in NFL history.
Since Mahomes signed his 10-year extension, he fell from first to eighth in the average-per-year (APY) metric. And a contract that was built to recognize a rising financial tide became outdated quickly—it was set to tick up from $40 million per year to $50 million per year in 2026. But in ’23, we already have four quarterbacks past that benchmark and now Mahomes.
Joe Burrow, Bengals: Five years, $275 million ($55M APY)
Mahomes, Chiefs: Four years, $210.6 million ($52.65M APY)
Justin Herbert, Chargers, Five years, $262.5 million ($52.5M APY)
Lamar Jackson, Ravens, Five years, $260 million ($52M APY)
So here, then, are the particulars of Mahomes’s deal …
• His agents prioritized cash flow over guarantees, because, well, Mahomes doesn’t really need to worry about the Chiefs cutting him. So over the next four years, Mahomes is due $208.1 million—an NFL high—outpacing the $208 million Lamar Jackson is due over that time. Mahomes’s $261 million over the next five years is also an NFL high—just past the $260 million Jackson is due.
• The biggest difference between the Jackson and Mahomes deals is Jackson wasn’t under contract when he got his, whereas Mahomes had five years past the four years referenced. That means over the next four years, this is a raise. He’ll make $43.3 million more over the next four years than he was scheduled—a $13.9 million raise this year, $6.55 million raise in 2024, $8.05 million raise in ’25 and $14.8 million raise in ’26.
