Is it possible the Patrick Mahomes contract could benefit the Denver Broncos in some ways?
Patrick Mahomes is going to be a thorn in the Denver Broncos’ side for a long, long time.
Mahomes got his first start in the NFL against the Denver Broncos and at just the age of 24, he’s signed the richest contract in the history of American professional sports, a 12-year deal all told worth over $500 million in potential money with just under $142 million in guaranteed cash.
With Mahomes taking up such a large percentage of the Chiefs’ cap space in the not-so-distant future, there are some ways this contract can actually benefit the Broncos.
One way it can benefit the Broncos in the near future is the fact that this contract likely is the final nail in the coffin for the Chiefs’ long-term hopes of re-signing defensive lineman Chris Jones, one of the best defensive players in all of football.
As a matter of fact, with the Broncos’ expiring contracts on the defensive line, Chris Jones could be a fantastic target for Denver in 2021 free agency even with the cap implications of COVID-19.
Jones is slated to become one of the highest-paid defenders in football when he gets the chance to hit the market, and with the Chiefs now paying a premium for Mahomes and other players like Frank Clark and Tyrann Mathieu, there’s no way Jones will be able to stick around.
There’s also the possibility that the Chiefs will have to compromise other areas of their roster to be able to afford Mahomes.
No good thing in the NFL lasts forever, and the Chiefs have some players entering into the dreaded 30s realm.
Notably, Travis Kelce is 30 this season and has two years left on his latest contract.
Former number one pick Eric Fisher, the Chiefs’ left tackle, also only has two years left on his deal starting in 2020.
Mitchell Schwartz, possibly the best right tackle in the NFL, is 31 this season and also has just two years left on his deal.
Kansas City’s free agent list in 2022 headlined by Kelce, Schwartz, and Fisher is impressive enough, but that list will also include defensive star Tyrann Mathieu.
There’s no question that the Chiefs are in a window right now where they will be legitimate Super Bowl contenders for the next two seasons, but their talent development behind some of the current star players is going to need to be on point to make sure Mahomes doesn’t fall into an Aaron Rodgers type of situation.
In 2010, the Packers looked like they could be a potential dynasty, but Green Bay’s front office couldn’t properly surround Rodgers and he hasn’t won a Super Bowl in the last 10 years despite being a transcendent type of player at QB just like Mahomes.
Mahomes has already won a league MVP award and a Super Bowl MVP, and he’s not even 25. The Chiefs have to be feeling great right now regardless of the future salary cap implications of Mahoems’ new deal.
Their hope is also obviously that Mahomes will continue to raise all boats, which he will, but as we all know — Mo Money Mo Problems…
There will continue to be added pressure on Mahomes to do more with less, which is just the way of things in the NFL anymore. You find a quarterback, you pay him his money, you adapt with players on the roster who are paid less. The draft is incredibly important.
The Chiefs will attempt to follow the model set by the New England Patriots where the system and culture around the team are such that rookies are able to step in and have success because of the high expectations all around and the fact that ring-chasing veterans will want to come in and play there in the later portion of their careers.
But nothing is going to be handed to Kansas City and with Mahomes making so much money now, the pressure on him from the media and NFL fans is going to be intense.
How will Mahomes respond to that pressure? How will the Chiefs continue building their roster around him? How effective will their player development system be? How quickly will drafting late in each round every year catch up with them?
How will the impact of star players lost elsewhere on the roster affect Mahomes?
All of these questions have potential answers that impact the Broncos in a positive way.
Playing against Mahomes is hard enough, but these are glory days for the Chiefs and just like every other NFL team, they will have to prove they are capable of keeping things rolling through player development, strong drafting, opportunistic free agent signings with limited cap space, and more.