NFL
Biggest Takeaways From Patrick Mahomes’ Record-Breaking Extension
Patrick Mahomes signed a record-breaking 10-year contract extension with the Chiefs so how does this impact the future of the game?
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Patrick Mahomes just signed the largest deal in professional sports history ($503M), shattering the previous NFL record of $150M. The 24-year-old has already accomplished so much in just his two years since taking over the starting role in Kansas City. He’s won the MVP award, a Super Bowl MVP, and owns one of the two 5,000 PASS YDS/50 TD seasons in NFL history.
The Chiefs are betting HALF A BILLION dollars that their 10th overall pick from 2017 has much more in store over the next decade and the best is yet to come. Nobody in the history of sports has ever seen a deal of this magnitude so let’s take a look at what all this means for the teams and players involved.
Updates about Mahomes’ contract value is now being listed at $503M with $477M in various guarantees. MONSTER deal (via @RapSheet) pic.twitter.com/6wJnpfnB0F
— Pro Sports Outlook (@PSO_Sports) July 6, 2020
The biggest takeaway from this record-breaking contract is the game-changing impact this deal will have on the NFL market going forward. Of course, Mahomes is the exception and the player with the most leverage to command a deal like this, which is why he was the FIRST player to receive a contract north of five years and/or north of $150 million. However, before this deal, it was impossible to believe a player would pass either of those thresholds, yet it’s now more likely that multiple players break those previous barriers over the coming years. Those impossibilities just went out the window with this game-changing deal.
Lamar Jackson, Deshaun Watson, Dak Prescott, and other top-tier QBs that are soon going to get paid can all thank the FRANCH15E for the boost they’ll receive in their next deal. Similar to Kirk Cousins’ game-changing fully-guaranteed deal, this could have ripple effects across positions well-beyond the Quarterback position. It’s not that contracts going forward will reach $500M (or even anywhere close) or that they’ll be fully guaranteed like Cousins, but they each leveraged their earning-power by moving the bar toward the players side that helps their peers get closer to their financial goals. It’ll be interesting to see how non-generational talents are compensated in the foreseeable future after every player’s agent is now aware of what the new ceiling is.
When it comes to on the field, Mahomes’ presence in Kansas City for the next decade-plus essentially guarantees the Chiefs perennial Super Bowl contention with the most talented Quarterback to ever live touching the ball on every play for the next 220+ games. The Chiefs are currently also surrounding the KC Cannon with the most explosive group of weapons any team has ever had. That alone will make the Chiefs Super Bowl favorites for the foreseeable future until those players get injured or leave for more money elsewhere.
Kansas City doesn’t have many more young foundational pieces in place right now outside of their skill position players and they won’t be able to sign many premier performers to big contracts thanks to Mahomes’ $50M annual cap hit. How a team can provide a supporting cast with the cap restrictions they’ll have over the decade remains to be seen. So any Chiefs fan shouldn’t get carried away with how many Super Bowls they could win in the 2020’s, but even the haters can admit that Mahomes is bound to win multiple Super Bowls during his NFL career.
Setting the over/under at three Super Bowls during Mahomes contract extension during the next 12 years sounds like the most realistic outcome that would lead to the most even split of sports bettors taking the over and those that will take the under. Either way, the city of KC should have parade plans ready to go for the next one that inevitably comes to town. As Mahomes said himself in his post-contract hype video, the Chiefs are chasing a dynasty.
With Patrick Mahomes now locked up, all the attention on the reigning champs now turns to their premier interior pass-rusher who’s currently set to play the 2020 season on the franchise tag. However, like his friend Le’Veon Bell, Jones is threatening to sit out the entire season if there’s no long-term deal in place by the July 15th deadline, which he’s reportedly demanding a monster $20M/yr deal. Even if Jones does sit out the entire season, there’s no guarantee the Chiefs won’t tag him again on a one-year deal in 2021.
Kansas City could do with Jones what they did with Ford last year after tagging him: trade him for premium draft picks to replenish the young, inexpensive talent on the team. Jones is an elite DL, but it’s hard to argue he deserves more money than Aaron Donald or even Fletcher Cox. Any player looking to play with the Super Bowl favorite Chiefs AND make top-of-the-market money is likely in for a reality check now that Big Money Mahomes just broke the bank. While this Mahomes deal helps future players’ leverage in negotiating their deals considering the ceiling of contracts just went from $150M to $503M, this agreement doesn’t help Jones’ odds of landing a record-breaking type of deal in Kansas City that he desires.
While COVID-19 and the restrictions it’s caused on the sports world has understandably caused less optimism around the game, this deal proved that the people who write the checks aren’t looking at this virus being a long-term disruption. It’d be hard to convince any business owner to shell out more money now than ever with so much uncertainty in the air about that company’s future revenue, but the Hunt family’s willingness to pull the trigger on this enormous deal makes it clear that they aren’t too concerned about the long-term impact of COVID-19.
With technological advancements, continuous expansion internationally, and inevitable sports betting legalization in more states, the belief is that football will continue to find ways to sell tickets and generate billions of annual revenue over the next decade, despite the coronavirus’ current presence, or this deal would never get done.
What may have seemed like a reality before, is suddenly sinking into the minds of millions of sports fans across the country. Patrick Mahomes isn’t just the future face of the NFL, he’s quickly becoming the face of sports, period. LeBron James still deserves to hold that throne for now, especially if he can lead the Lakers to a Championship during the same year as Kobe’s tragic passing.
However, James is in his mid-30’s and doesn’t play the most important position in the most popular sport in the country. Patrick Mahomes has always had all the makings of becoming the next face of the game, and with a MVP, Super Bowl, Madden cover, and now largest contract in sports history to support the claim, it’s only a matter of time before Mahomes is unanimously recognized as the most popular athlete on the planet.
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