Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs Agree to a Record Breaking Contract

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Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs Agree to a Record Breaking Contract

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Patrick Mahomes just signed the richest deal in American sports history — kind of.

Yesterday, Adam Schefter of ESPN first reported that a ten-year contract between Super Bowl MVP Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs was close to being completed.

An hour later the numbers in the deal started to materialize. The contract was reported to be “more than $400” million but the question remained “how much more than $400 million?”

As the specifics of the deal materialized, it began to look as if Mahomes would become the owner of the biggest contract in North American sports history with the possible total earnings reaching $503 million. Mahomes, who was the 10th overall pick in the 2017 NFL draft — the Chiefs’ first pick —  is the first NFL player to be the highest-paid athlete.

But there is a caveat: NFL contracts are not guaranteed. It is likely that the deal will need to be restructured before 2031, especially as the NFL raises its salary cap over the next five years. He might make even more than  $500 million in his career, but he would not then hold the crown of the largest dollar amount on a single contract. Another huge aspect of non-guaranteed contracts is injury. If Mahomes gets hurt, he is only guaranteed  $140 million — that’s a ton of money, but it’s not half-a-billion.

Major League Baseball contracts are guaranteed. This makes it challenging to compare Mike Trout’s ten-year,  $426.5 million contract — signed in the spring of 2019 — to Mahomes’ deal. You would be better off comparing his deal to other first-round quarterbacks, such as Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Carson Wentz and LA Rams’ Jared Goff who have signed deals ranging in the $100+ million range.

Bottom line is, the Mahomes deal is enormous in the football context, but it does not quite compare to what he could be making if his contract was guaranteed. Still, he does have the largest contract in NFL history — not too shabby.

Facts roundup about Patrick Mahomes and his contract

  • Mahomes is already under contract with the Chiefs for another two years. This ten-year deal will start after the current one expires.
  • The deal has incentives for each year if he wins the NFC Championship or if he wins the NFL MVP award. He could earn up to $25 million in these incentives over the ten years.

  • Mahomes received this extension after only three years of playing in the NFL.
  • He is 24 years old.
  • Mahomes has thrown 9,412 career yards.
  • In 2018, he led the league in touchdowns (50) and touchdown percentage (8.6) on his way to the NFL MVP award.
  • Oh yeah, he led the Chief comeback in the 2020 Super Bowl where he won the MVP.
  • Perhaps it would be important to mention that his peers and fellow professional athletes believe he is well-deserving of this massive contract.

  • This superstar is ready to compete and earn his keep (not exactly a fact, but Mahomes seems pretty sure about it).

A potential GOAT indeed.

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