Patrick Mahomes has the whole NFL franchise quarterback thing down Pat. (Sorry.) Not only does the reigning Super Bowl MVP dominate on the field, but he knows how answer questions about his contract status without saying anything of substance, instead tiptoeing around any potential controversy and stating exactly what the Chiefs would hope to hear.
In that regard, his response Sunday to a contract question on SiriusXM NFL Radio was a masterpiece.
"I’m optimistic just to be able to be a Kansas City Chief for a long time," Mahomes said. “I think the best thing about this team and this organization is they handle things the right way and they do things the right way. So, for me, obviously I'm optimistic of getting that contract and extending my time in Kansas City. But I’m gonna just go about being who I am, just like I have since the beginning since I was the backup until now and that’s to go out there and love this game, treat people the right way and all that stuff handles itself."
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Patrick Mahomes on a potential blockbuster extension with the @Chiefs.
— SiriusXM NFL Radio (@SiriusXMNFL) March 1, 2020
"The best thing about this team and this organization is they handle things the right way."
⬇️LISTEN⬇️ pic.twitter.com/X4tgtPMBdV
Well said. But the truth is, even though there's room for optimism, the timing of Mahomes' apparently inevitable contract extension is a challenge.
The good news for the 24-year-old QB is Chiefs chairman Clark Hunt in January called the deal "a priority" — as it should be for a fourth-year player who already has a league MVP and a championship on his resume. The bad news for Mahomes is Hunt also said the new deal might not come in 2020.
"There will be a right time sometime in the next 12 to 15 months to extend Patrick, and when I say right time, I mean right time for both the player and the club," Hunt said, via ESPN.
But for "the player," now is the right time. Because the player most consider the best quarterback in the NFL is scheduled to play the 2020 season for just $2.7 million.
"There's no way that's happening," former NFL team exec and current Sporting News contributor Jeff Diamond wrote in a recent article projecting Mahomes' next deal. (He thinks Mahomes will be shooting for a five-year extension that totals $220 million in new money.) "Trust me as a former GM who negotiated several major contracts with Mahomes’ agent, Leigh Steinberg.
"Along with his partner Chris Cabott, Steinberg knows well that with a $200 million-plus contract on the horizon, they can't allow Mahomes to risk a career-altering injury before he takes the field next season. And there’s no doubt Mahomes is deserving of the top spot on the NFL salary scale."
It's worth noting that the NFL-proposed collective bargaining agreement currently being reviewed by the NFLPA will, if ratified, impact contract talks for Mahomes. Both sides must take into account the projected bumps in the league's salary cap, for example.
With or without a new CBA, the cap for 2020 is expected to be $200 million for each team. (It was $188.2 million in 2019.) However, per NFL Media, "if players ratify the CBA, revenue would increase with expanded playoffs, which could cause the figure to rise, depending on whether additional revenue is counted toward salary cap or benefits. Bigger jumps would be expected in 2021 and beyond under the proposed new CBA."
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Regardless, the Chiefs are likely to exercise the fifth-year option on Mahomes as a 2017 first-round pick (they have until May 3 to do so). That would lock Mahomes into his scheduled $2.7 million for 2020, and for 2021, he would earn the transition tag amount, which is the average salary of the top 10 quarterbacks in 2020 (estimated $24 million).
That might be the only clarity we get on Mahomes' contract situation this spring before a potential holdout this summer becomes a viable way to force Kansas City's hand.