Expect Patrick Mahomes to again be the highest-paid player in league history, before Week One

[oldtimer 8,686]

https://currently.att.yahoo.com/sports/expect-patrick-mahomes-again-highest-160316025.html

Mike Florio

Tue, May 9, 2023 at 11:03 AM CDT

 

 

When Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes signed his current 12-year contract three years ago, he nudged the bar for the highest average per year (APY) by roughly $10 million, to $45 million annually.

Now, with Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson at $52 million per year, Mahomes has fallen $7 million per year behind the highest-paid player in the sport.

Chiefs G.M. Brett Veach already has vowed to address the Mahomes deal after more quarterback contracts are completed. While Veach didn’t delve into any specifics, here’s what reasonably should be expected, based on our conversations with folks aware of the dynamics of the situation.

Expect Mahomes, before the season begins, to once again be the highest-paid player in league history.

The details will be interesting, and subject to differing interpretations. Because Mahomes has nine years left on his current contract, a new-money APY in excess of $52 million per year would be obtained simply by tacking three years and a penny more than $156 million on the back end of the existing deal.

The real question will become the value of the contract from the moment it’s signed. Also relevant to the analysis will be the full guarantee at signing, and the cash flow in the first three years of the revised deal.

In 2020, Mahomes swapped a high APY and a complicated but lucrative guarantee structure for cash flow in the years that were most likely to be affected by the pandemic. Now that those days have come and gone, the cash flow can be boosted in the early years of a revised deal.

Whether big-picture proclamations or devilish details, a new deal is coming for Mahomes, sooner than later. He has more than earned it — and with each new quarterback deal that is done, his own situation becomes more glaring. Look for that to at least be partially rectified in the coming weeks or months.

Ultimately, Mahomes is trying to strike the balance of fair compensation with leaving enough cash behind to have a team that lets him pursue championships and, ultimately, to chase Tom Brady’s all-time record of seven championships. Mahomes needs five to tie, six to win.

While not yet a real threat to Brady, Mahomes isn’t far from making things interesting. And that could be enough to get Brady interested in trying to get to No. 8 before it’s all said and done, just in case.

[xen 1,010,220]

Whether he's right or wrong, it's probably a good time to remind ourselves that Florio is a douche.  

[arrowhead 1,070]

X2.

[jetlord 10,209]

Florio is sure trying to stir the pot.  Whatever his agenda, there no indication that Mahomes is unhappy with the deal he made just a couple of years ago which made him the highest paid in history.  Florio can't be happy unless Mahomes is unhappy. 

[azchief21 5,278]

If I were another team, I just wouldn't give a QB more than Mahomes. It's the perfect bargaining tool. "You aren't better than Mahomes so we won't pay you more than Mahomes. We'll start at Mahomes salary then subtract based on SB wins, SB appearances, SB MVPs, League MVPs, yardage and TDs." 🤣😂

[mex 65,581]

1 hour ago, xen said:

Whether he's right or wrong, it's probably a good time to remind ourselves that Florio is a douche.  

I was going to say it, but you beat me to it.

[Boone 304]

Honestly? Let's just give Mahomes a set % of the salary cap and be done with it. 

[Lamardirts 2,114]

Mahomes has stated publicly that winning rings is more important than tons of money.    He has never indicated he is unhappy with his contract.   It would be against everything he has said if he wanted to be the highest APY and it would also be significantly more difficult to stack chips.   He is the best but the difference between him and the next tier isn't so far that Mahomes on a bad team can beat those guys on a good team.   Also he doesn't come off as being a selfish player.  That first contract was so big because he stated he wanted to be financial set for his family.  That first contract did that and more.  His endorsements only add to that giant bag.    

The only thing I could think of is the NFLPA is putting pressure on Mahomes to seek more to help the rising tide raise all boats.    Truth is he is worth being the highest paid and at the end of the day if he is happy and the Chiefs are happy then who am I to complain.

 

[Thegoatee 1,780]

Mahomes is going to make so much money in endorsements. If he is all about the rings and legacy, I imagine he will make good business decisions so he doesn’t bankrupt the talent around him.

[sith13 1,746]

I'm guessing it's a matter of principal for the organization. Mahomes already "left money on the table" to keep some guys around and I wouldn't be surprised if he does that again. I think a new contract that inflates the average value but keeps the flexibility for the organization is very likely.

Mahomes understands that being the best means paying guys around him and I wouldn't be surprised if he goes for a Brady-like contract approach. He'll keep making more and more money with the endorsements and the rest.

[Lamardirts 2,114]

2 hours ago, sith13 said:

I'm guessing it's a matter of principal for the organization. Mahomes already "left money on the table" to keep some guys around and I wouldn't be surprised if he does that again. I think a new contract that inflates the average value but keeps the flexibility for the organization is very likely.

Mahomes understands that being the best means paying guys around him and I wouldn't be surprised if he goes for a Brady-like contract approach. He'll keep making more and more money with the endorsements and the rest.

How could you do that though?  Huge bonuses?  But don’t they get spread out over the course of the remaining years or at the max five years?  So that keeps pushing the can down the road.   I’m no capologist so I know there are ways to manipulate it but at the end of the day you still gotta pay the player the money he is guaranteed either this year or down the road.

[jetlord 10,209]

6 hours ago, sith13 said:

I'm guessing it's a matter of principal for the organization. Mahomes already "left money on the table" to keep some guys around and I wouldn't be surprised if he does that again. I think a new contract that inflates the average value but keeps the flexibility for the organization is very likely.

Mahomes understands that being the best means paying guys around him and I wouldn't be surprised if he goes for a Brady-like contract approach. He'll keep making more and more money with the endorsements and the rest.

No facts to back it up, but I'm guessing Mahomes makes more through his contract and endorsements than LJ8.  Hopefully, Mahomes is mature enough to realize life style and recognition as the GOAT are more important than bragging rights as the highest paid player.  Let Burrows, Herbert, and eventually Lawrence keep moving the highest paid target.  Let Mahomes keep a core of players who gives him a shot at the SB title every year.  

[xen 1,010,220]

17 hours ago, Boone said:

Honestly? Let's just give Mahomes a set % of the salary cap and be done with it. 

Honestly Clark might get the cold shoulder from the owners like the Browns are getting.  Owners are very against fully guaranteed contracts and percentage contracts.

Though I will say it makes a lot of sense and if anyone deserves it or can pull it off it's Mahomes.

[kccrow 529]

Florio is grasping at straws for clicks.

The Chiefs and Mahomes should give zero fucks about addressing anything with his contract in the near future.

[sith13 1,746]

21 hours ago, Lamardirts said:

How could you do that though?  Huge bonuses?  But don’t they get spread out over the course of the remaining years or at the max five years?  So that keeps pushing the can down the road.   I’m no capologist so I know there are ways to manipulate it but at the end of the day you still gotta pay the player the money he is guaranteed either this year or down the road.

I don't see Mahomes ever seeing the end of his contract here. He'll likely get a new contract every few years with some team consideration in mind. Just put pointless numbers in future years that inflate the value and keep it going until Bronze is ready to take over. Mahomes will keep making more money than any other QB with the endorsements and he's too competitive to go for money over rings so I think it's a huge win for both sides.

[sith13 1,746]

On 5/10/2023 at 3:30 AM, Boone said:

Honestly? Let's just give Mahomes a set % of the salary cap and be done with it. 

Is that actually allowed 🤔

[Boone 304]

5 hours ago, sith13 said:

Is that actually allowed 🤔

Nothing says we can't, but like Xen pointed out, most owners are dead-set against fully guaranteed contracts and %-of-cap deals. Watson's deal with the Browns torqued a lot of owners. 

But if anyone has the leverage and ability to be the first one, it's Mahomes.

The cap is $224.8 million this year. Lamar's $52 mill/year average is 23% of this year's cap. What not tell Mahomes he gets 21% of the cap every year going forward. He'd get $47.2 mill in 2023, and if the cap goes up by $16 mill again next year (like it did this year), he'd get $50.7 mill in 2024. Same math would be $53.9 in 2025.

Let other teams organize behind it..."you're not as good as Mahomes, so you get 19% of the cap".

If I pessimistically thought about why the owners would be opposed to this, I'd have to guess that they're afraid that without the likely to be earned incentives, players would get lazy and not work as hard. We've all seen plenty of players coast after getting their big contract. But it's worked out in other sports leagues, so I'm certain it could work in the NFL, too.

[reesebobby 5,661]

2 minutes ago, Boone said:

But if anyone has the leverage and ability to be the first one, it's Mahomes.

 

Serious question.  What leverage does Mahomes have?  He's not a free agent until 2032.  Is he gonna hold out until he's 37 and walk away from a half a billion dollars?  To be honest, I'm not sure how all that works.  

[oldtimer 8,686]

18 minutes ago, reesebobby said:

Serious question.  What leverage does Mahomes have?  He's not a free agent until 2032.  Is he gonna hold out until he's 37 and walk away from a half a billion dollars?  To be honest, I'm not sure how all that works.  

I guess he could demand a trade. I'm sure a team out here would give up a decades worth of picks to pick him up but yea he doesn't seem to be that kind of guy and I'm sure over time as the QB rate skyrockets his contact as long as he keeps being MVPatrick will change in some form or another. He's fairly dug into KC so unless maybe a Texas Team ( Cowboys) would come sniffing around I dont think he'd give other teams  much thought.

 

It's a slow time so lots of these guys will be throwing shit on the wall  out of boredom and we'll read and discuss  it as we are now

[reesebobby 5,661]

Just now, oldtimer said:

I guess he could demand a trade. I'm sure a team out here would give up a decades worth of picks to pick him up but yea he doesn't seem to be that kind of guy and I'm sure over time as the QB rate skyrockets his contact as long as he keeps being MVPatrick will change in some form or another. He's fairly dug into KC so unless maybe a Texas Team ( Cowboys) would come sniffing around I dont think he'd give other teams  much thought.

 

It's a slow time so lots of these guys will be throwing shit on the wall  out of boredom and we'll read and discuss  it as we are now

Demand a trade or he'll walk away from the game?  I think he has the same problem.  He's under contract with the Chiefs for a long time.  If he was a UFA next year, I could see him having some leverage. 

[Boone 304]

1 hour ago, reesebobby said:

Serious question.  What leverage does Mahomes have?  He's not a free agent until 2032.  Is he gonna hold out until he's 37 and walk away from a half a billion dollars?  To be honest, I'm not sure how all that works.  

As the best player in the NFL, Mahomes has leverage like we haven't seen in a while, even though he's under contract: he could simply speak it into existence. 

All he'd have to do is make one comment during an interview or send out one tweet saying "I should be the highest paid player in the NFL." And the whole world would run to his defense. ESPN would talk about nothing else. He'd be retweeted a million times. The local and national media would hound KC until they eventually give in, tear up the current contract, and pay him like he's the best. 

I don't think he'll ever pull that lever. He'll handle his business as a businessman and not like a sideshow. Veech already said they all knew the contract would be ammended at some point. But if anyone could make the argument that he deserves a % of the cap salary, Mahomes could do so convincingly. 

[xen 1,010,220]

Reminder Patrick is the first QB in history to win the superbowl while taking up over 15% of the cap.  That % was that to be the line you couldn't cross and still win a superbowl.  Until last year with Pat.

The highest before that was Brady at 12.61% in 2021.

Pat was at 17.19% last year.

[Boone 304]

6 minutes ago, xen said:

Reminder Patrick is the first QB in history to win the superbowl while taking up over 15% of the cap.  That % was that to be the line you couldn't cross and still win a superbowl.  Until last year with Pat.

The highest before that was Brady at 12.61% in 2021.

Pat was at 17.19% last year.

I was just spitballing numbers based upon Lamar's deal. I'm all for giving him 17% every year. 

[reesebobby 5,661]

3 hours ago, Boone said:

As the best player in the NFL, Mahomes has leverage like we haven't seen in a while, even though he's under contract: he could simply speak it into existence. 

All he'd have to do is make one comment during an interview or send out one tweet saying "I should be the highest paid player in the NFL." And the whole world would run to his defense. ESPN would talk about nothing else. He'd be retweeted a million times. The local and national media would hound KC until they eventually give in, tear up the current contract, and pay him like he's the best. 

I don't think he'll ever pull that lever. He'll handle his business as a businessman and not like a sideshow. Veech already said they all knew the contract would be ammended at some point. But if anyone could make the argument that he deserves a % of the cap salary, Mahomes could do so convincingly. 

I'm a huge Mahomes fan.  Obviously we all are.  But I'm not sure I'd come running to his defense if he started complaining about his half a billion dollar contract.  

[kkuenn 3,597]

18 minutes ago, reesebobby said:

I'm a huge Mahomes fan.  Obviously we all are.  But I'm not sure I'd come running to his defense if he started complaining about his half a billion dollar contract.  

Not in the slightest