The new Patrick Mahomes contract covers eight seasons and averages, from signing, a payout of $63.093 million per year. That pushes the market to unprecedented heights. And it brings into focus the next wave of quarterback deals.
So let’s take a look at the quarterbacks who’ll use the Mahomes contract as a key data point for ongoing or upcoming negotiations.
Lamar Jackson, Ravens.
Jackson has wanted a new deal for more than a year. His current contract averaged $52.5 million per year from signing. At the time it was finalized, he was the highest paid player in the league. He has now slid down to the bottom of the top 10. Mahomes getting to $63.09 million, especially while still recovering from a torn ACL, will only strengthen Lamar’s resolve.
Jackson currently has $104 million remaining on his current contract, over the next two years. With a no-tag clause, he can kick the can through the next two seasons and become an unrestricted free agent. It gives him significant leverage, and Mahomes’s contract likely nudges Lamar’s reasonable expectations from at least $60.1 million per year (based on Dak Prescott’s latest deal) to at least $63.1 million annually.
Joe Burrow, Bengals.
In 2023, after his first three NFL seasons, Burrow agreed to a seven-year deal with an average from signing of $44.28 million per year and a new-money average of $55 million. He has four years left with a total payout of $163.539 million, an average of $40.88 million.
His recent restructuring was a cap-creation device, with no new money. The Bengals, who are extremely careful with money, may not be inclined to tear up the current deal and replace it with a new contract.
For his part, Burrow may not be inclined to extend his commitment to the team. His discontent after three straight non-playoff seasons has become more obvious. As he enters his seventh season in Cincinnati, Burrow could be thinking about reaching the same conclusion Carson Palmer did after his eighth.
Baker Mayfield, Buccaneers.
He has said talks on a deal that would extend his $33.3 million per year contract are nowhere close to where he thought they’d be. The Buccaneers could tag him in 2027, or they could let him hit the open market.
Some think the Bucs wouldn’t use the franchise tag; with a 2026 cap number of $39.975 million, Mayfield’s 2027 franchise tender would be at least $47.97 million. There’s a sense in some circles that the Bucs believe they’ll ultimately offer him more than anyone would in free agency, if a new deal isn’t done before Mayfield’s self-imposed deadline of the start of training camp.
C.J. Stroud.
The Texans repeatedly have proclaimed that he’s their guy. But they have yet to do for him what they’d done for cornerback Derek Stingley Jr. and defensive end Will Anderson — sign the first-round pick to a new deal before his fourth season.
The challenge at this point comes from putting a number on his second contract. There’s a broad range when it comes to veteran quarterback pay. Where would Stroud fit?
Currently, the number would be lower than it could be for Stroud, if he has a strong fourth season. Since the Texans realize that, at this point, they’d be only bidding against themselves, there’s no reason to rush the process.
Caleb Williams, Bears.
The first overall pick in the 2024 draft becomes eligible for a new deal after the 2026 regular season. And Williams has been very focused on the business realities of the NFL, from even before he was drafted.
When the time comes for Williams to get a new deal, the Mahomes number will drive the discussion. Especially if Williams continues to be on a trajectory that could put him among the top four or five quarterbacks in football.
We’ve already heard talk of Williams having expectations that would be more than eye-popping. And we also expect that Williams will make it known that he wants his contract not after the 2026 postseason ends, but promptly upon the opening of the window for a new deal after the Bears face the Vikings in Week 18.
Why carry the injury risk into the 2026 postseason? No quarterback on his rookie deal has tried to do that, even though the CBA wrinkle has been hiding in plain sight since 2011.
Jayden Daniels, Commanders.
Like Williams, Daniels becomes eligible for a new deal after the 2026 regular season. His main goal should be to reestablish himself after a disappointing and injury-plagued second season, during which he played only seven of 17 games.
If Daniels returns to his rookie form, he’ll be joining Williams as a quarterback looking for a second contract.
Drake Maye, Patriots.
The player who finished second in the MVP voting to cap his second season also has his window open after the 2026 regular season. And the Patriots will be hoping that, like Tom Brady before him, Maye will be less inclined to break the bank and more inclined to ensure that there will be cap space to have a quality team around him.
Brady, who entered the league as the 199th overall pick, had naturally lower expectations early in his career. Maye, the third overall pick who was denied the commensurate reward due to the rookie wage scale, may not be as charitable as Brady was.
Bo Nix, Broncos.
Nix’s window likewise opens after the 2026 regular season. He’ll need to show he has fully recovered from the foot injury suffered late in the AFC playoff win over the Bills. And he’ll need to do even more in Sean Payton’s offense to unlock a major deal.
Regardless, there’s a new high bar — and his contemporaries from the 2024 draft could add more data points.
That raises another question, as to Williams, Daniels, Maye, and Nix. Who goes first? There will be a competition among the agents to emerge with the best deal. This could prompt some of them to wait until the others jump in the pool first.
Sam Darnold, Seahawks.
Darnold’s three-year, $100.5 million contract from 2025 was structured to give the Seahawks an escape hatch after one year. It wasn’t structured to force the team back to the table if Darnold leads the team to a Super Bowl win.
With $27.5 million in base pay and up to $5 million in available incentives, Darnold would be justified to seek a new deal. The Seahawks may want to wait until 2027.
Regardless, Mahomes’s new contract will be a factor, whenever it’s time to sit down and work out a new contract.
Chiefs Clips
The wedding of Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce and a random, no-name Knicks fan is coming. Kelce’s boss isn’t talking about the upcoming ceremony involving Kelce and megastar Taylor Swift.
Chiefs coach Andy Reid was asked by reporters this week whether he’ll be attending the ceremony.
“Can’t talk about it, can’t talk about it,” Reid said with a laugh, via Nate Taylor of ESPN. “Listen, [Kelce’s] been here most of the offseason, if not the whole offseason. He did the mandatory camp and did a nice job there, so it’s good to have him back in and rolling. He’s very excited.”
As far as Reid can tell, the nuptials are a non-issue.
“You see no distractions with that and the wedding,” Reid said. “If it’s like when I got married, my wife did everything. I just kind of followed her lead on it [and] showed up. Maybe he’s doing more, but he looks like he’s pretty focused in on this job here, too.”
Reports have emerged in recent days that the wedding will happen in New York City — possibly at Madison Square Garden.
Which means that Taylor Swift’s presence at Game 4 of the Spurs-Knicks series wasn’t just about taking in a basketball game for the ages. She was also checking out the venue.
Xavier Worthy ran the fastest 40-yard dash in Scouting Combine history before the Chiefs took him in the first round of the 2024 NFL draft, so when asked about competing with the Chiefs’ other wide receivers on the practice field, Worthy said he knows he’ll always stand out.
“No question I’m the fastest,” Worthy said.
But last year Worthy’s production took a step backward as he played through a Week One shoulder injury, and he said this week that the surgery he had in January is going to be good for him in the long run, because in recovery he focused more on his strength and the mental part of his game, and not just relying on his speed.
“With the shoulder injury, I had that surgery in January, really it was just building on, getting stronger, getting back in the flow,” Worthy said. “It might have been the best thing for me, learning how to be a pro, learning how to approach the mental aspect and just getting your body prepared for certain things.”
Worthy said his injury-plagued 2025 season didn’t show what he can really be as an NFL receiver.
“I’d definitely say that’s not a true indication of what I am,” he said. “I was limited in certain things. I want to come back out here and show my ability and what I can do.”
In 2026, Worthy believes he’s going to demonstrate why the Chiefs were smart to draft him.
“I know the kind of player I can be,” Worthy said. “The things I can do on the field, what I can bring to the team.”
Chiefs coach Andy Reid has been known to eat a cheeseburger or two. But as Chiefs left tackle Josh Simmons talks about bulking up for this season, Reid doesn’t want him doing it with cheeseburgers.
Simmons told reporters this week that he weighs 285-290 pounds right now, and although he appears to be in great shape, he looks awfully lean by NFL offensive lineman standards. Simmons said he’s going to try to get up to 300 pounds by training camp, and Reid wants him doing it the right way.
“You don’t want cheeseburger weight,” Reid said. “He’s extremely athletic, and he’s gifted that way, so he’s able to get away with some things because of that.”
The things Simmons gets away with include blocking 300-pound men without weighing 300 pounds himself, and Reid said he’s not sure that Simmons even needs to get up to 300 pounds to do his job effectively.
“He’s kind of a unique character because he’s not a real big guy,” Reid said. “But he’s extremely strong and very athletic, so you always talk about leverage as a coach, and he does a good job with that, and he was able to function that way last year. He probably told you he’s going to put on weight, we’ll see. I don’t think that’s an absolute that has to take place. He looked pretty good out here.”
The 6-foot-5 Simmons weighed 317 pounds at last year’s Scouting Combine before the Chiefs drafted him in the first round. He’s lost significant weight since then, and he might be the lightest offensive tackle in the entire NFL right now: At 285 pounds he’d be lighter than every single offensive tackle who played in the league last year, according to pro-football-reference.com.
Simmons showed promise in his rookie year, but he missed nine games last season. The most important thing for the Chiefs is that he’s healthy and ready to protect Patrick Mahomes’ blind side, and they don’t think he needs to add any cheeseburger weight to do that.
On Thursday night, the Seahawks got their Super Bowl rings. Super Bowl MVP Kenneth Walker III wasn’t there to get his.
In a post-draft appearance on #PFTPM, Walker said he intended to attend the ring ceremony. Per a source with knowledge of the situation, he’s the only member of the 2025 Seahawks who did not attend.
It’s unclear why Walker didn’t make the trip. The most obvious explanation is that the Chiefs’ mandatory minicamp concluded on Thursday. And his current priority is his new employer.
As it should be. Yes, it would be nice if the MVP of the Super Bowl had been present to receive the piece of jewelry commemorating the achievement. But Walker has moved on. As he said during the #PFTPM interview, he knew during the 2025 season that his future didn’t include playing for the Seahawks.
It was time to turn the page. To focus on the task at hand. Which consists of pursuing his second ring, while also helping quarterback Patrick Mahomes get his fourth.
Patrick Mahomes has another new deal, one that pays him incredibly well — but that can never reflect his full value to the NFL and to the game of professional football.
The contract, which runs through 2033, replaces a prior deal that was set to expire after the 2031 season. It’s being generally regarded as a replacement deal, not as an extension that would trigger the usual “new money” analysis, because the traditional “new money” analysis would lead to a stunning new-money APY of nearly $120 million per year.
So it’s a new deal, like every “extension” that any other player signs. The old contract goes away, and a new one takes its place.
Here are the full details of the contract that the Chiefs and Mahomes have signed, per a source with knowledge of the terms.
1. Signing bonus: $54.5 million.
2. 2026 workout bonus: $1 million, fully guaranteed (but must be earned).
3. 2026 base salary: $1.3 million, fully guaranteed.
4. 2027 offseason roster bonus: $30 million, fully guaranteed.
5. 2027 workout bonus: $1 million, fully guaranteed (but must be earned).
6. 2027 base salary: $27 million, fully guaranteed.
7. 2028 offseason roster bonus: $30 million.
8. 2028 workout bonus: $1 million.
9. 2028 base salary: $29 million.
(The entire 2028 compensation package is guaranteed for injury; $35.25 million is fully guaranteed at signing; the remaining $24.75 million becomes fully guaranteed in early 2027.)
10. 2029 offseason roster bonus: $30 million.
11. 2029 workout bonus: $1 million.
12. 2029 base salary: $31.5 million.
(The entire 2029 compensation package is guaranteed for injury; $30 million becomes fully guaranteed in early 2028, and the remaining $32.5 million becomes fully guaranteed in early 2029.)
13. 2030 offseason roster bonus: $30 million.
14. 2030 workout bonus: $1 million.
15. 2030 base salary: $32.75 million.
(None of the 2030 compensation package is guaranteed at signing. In 2029, $30 million becomes fully guaranteed. In 2030, the remaining $33.75 million becomes fully guaranteed.)
16. 2031 offseason roster bonus: $30 million.
17. 2031 workout bonus: $1 million.
18. 2031 base salary: $34.75 million.
(None of the 2031 compensation package is guaranteed at signing. In 2030, $30 million becomes fully guaranteed. In 2031, the remaining $35.75 million becomes fully guaranteed.)
19. 2032 offseason roster bonus: $30 million.
20. 2032 workout bonus: $1 million.
21. 2032 base salary: $37 million.
(None of the 2032 compensation package is guaranteed at signing. In 2031, $30 million becomes fully guaranteed. In 2032, the remaining $38 million becomes fully guaranteed.)
22. 2033 offseason roster bonus: $30 million.
23. 2033 workout bonus: $1 million.
24. 2033 base salary: $39 million.
(None of the 2033 compensation package is guaranteed at signing. The full $70 million becomes fully guaranteed in 2033.)
The contract has annual escalators of $2.5 million, from 2027 through 2033.
The eight-year, $504.75 million deal has an annual average at signing of $63.093 million. The deal includes $150 million fully guaranteed at signing, and $237.25 million in injury guarantees.
The deal pays out $56.75 million in 2026, $58 million in 2027, $60 million in 2028, $62.5 million in 2029, $63.75 million in 2030, $65.75 million in 2031, $68 million in 2032, and $70 million in 2033.
The deal isn’t heavily backloaded; however, the payout climbs systematically from $56.75 million to $70 million. By 2033, $70 million may be a bargain, relative to the market and the salary cap.
Chances are that, long before 2033, the deal will be redone. The Chiefs have already reconfigured the prior deal on multiple occasions, aimed at ensuring Mahomes’s cash flow will be competitive with the market.
Chiefs defensive backs coach Dave Merritt is not facing discipline under the NFL’s personal conduct policy after a domestic battery charge against him was dismissed.
The NFL found insufficient evidence of a violation of the policy, according to Mike Garafolo of NFL Network.
Merritt was charged in April after he had been accused of causing bodily harm to his daughter. He pleaded not guilty, and the case was dismissed in May.
The NFL sometimes imposes league discipline even if a player or coach does not face criminal charges, but in this case, Merritt is free to resume coaching.
The 54-year-old Merritt has been the Chiefs’ defensive backs coach since 2019. He has previously held NFL coaching jobs with the Cardinals, Giants and Jets, and spent time as a college assistant coach. He was a 1993 seventh-round pick of the Dolphins and had a brief NFL playing career before going into coaching.
Chiefs receiver Rashee Rice is currently serving a 30-day jail sentence for violating his probation, a fact made more complicated by Rice having recently undergone a procedure on his knee.
With the Chiefs’ offseason program coming to a close, head coach Andy Reid told reporters that head trainer Rick Burkholder has been more in contact with Rice, who has been able to do some rehab activities.
“Just making sure that everything was set there where he could do some rehab with it, and still do the time that he needed to take care of. So, he’s on top of that,” Reid said. “Thank goodness that they’re allowing him to do it. They’ve been great with that.”
As for Rice’s return to the field, Reid said he thinks the wideout will be ready for training camp.
“He gets out [of jail] here somewhere in this next week,” Reid said. “So, we’ll see where it goes from there. He’ll be back up here and working.”
Rice was on probation after pleading guilty to charges arising from a March 2024 street-racing incident in Dallas. He served a six-game suspension to begin the 2025 season.
Offensive tackle Wanya Morris wanted to move on from the Chiefs and he’ll be doing so in the near future.
Jeremy Fowler of ESPN reports that the Chiefs have agreed to trade Morris to the Falcons. Per multiple reports, the Chiefs will receive a 2027 sixth-round pick while also sending a 2027 seventh-round selection to Atlanta.
Word earlier this week was that the Chiefs and Morris had agreed to look for trade options.
Morris started 11 games for the Chiefs during the 2024 season and started 16 of his 43 overall appearances for the AFC West club. Falcons right tackle Kaleb McGary retired this offseason, so Morris will join Jake Matthews, Jawaan Taylor, Storm Norton, Michael Jerrell and Jack Nelson as the team’s tackle options.
Darron Lee, a first-round pick of the Jets in 2016, has formally been indicted on a charge of first-degree murder in connection with the death of his girlfriend, Gabriela Perpetuo.
Via News Channel 9, a Hamilton County, Tennessee grand jury returned the indictment on Wednesday. Previously, prosecutors did not rule out seeking the death penalty.
The case includes evidence that Lee had consulted ChatGPT on how to deal with a person who is unresponsive. Lee also allegedly asked ChatGPT about the injuries that would be consistent with someone falling in the shower.
Prosecutors have dismissed a separate charge of tampering with evidence.
Separately, Perpetuo’s estate has filed a $50 million wrongful death lawsuit against Lee.
Lee played three years with the Jets, one with the Chiefs, and one with the Bills. He last played in 2020.
