Andy Reid and Chiefs make stunning decision on Patrick Mahomes’ future that spells bad news for rest of the NFL
Last season, Kansas City beat the San Francisco 49ers in 2024’s Big Game to became the first team to win back-to-back world titles since the ’04 New England Patriots.
The Chiefs head into next season with a chance of pulling off an unprecedented three-peat – three consecutive Super Bowl titles.
KC are already making moves to give them the best chance of winning another Lombardi Trophy and it starts with quarterback Mahomes.
According to reports, the Chiefs are restructuring the contract of their QB1 to create an additional $21.6 million worth of salary-cap space.
The restructured contract was made prior to the official start of free agency on 13 March and gives the franchise significantly more flexibility to sign free agents this offseason.
The Chiefs had virtually no cap space prior to Mahomes’ reworked deal and he was reportedly scheduled to count more than $58 million against the cap.
But his new deal now affords the organisation much more wiggle room when it comes to adding pieces and strengthening ahead of their run at a three-peat – which is bad news for the rest of the NFL.
Mahomes signed a historic 10-year, $450 million contract extension back in 2020.
However, since then, the Chiefs have reworked his contract two other times to create more cap space.
The three-time Super Bowl winner restructured his contract before the 2021 season and before last season to reallocate money he was set to earn then to later on in his career.
Mahomes is signed through the 2031 season at a total cost of almost $500 million.
The restructuring comes at a pivotal time for the defending champions after re-signing defensive stalwart Chris Jones to a new contract that will only count $7.35 million against their cap this year.
They’re also bringing back linebacker Drue Tranquill and have already brought in the ‘Punt God’ himself Matt Araiza.
The Chiefs also recently used their franchise tag on star cornerback L’Jarius Sneed at a cost of almost $20 million against their cap.
Former Bengals tight end Irv Smith Jr has also agreed to a one-year deal with the Chiefs to support Travis Kelce.
What comes next for KC remains to be seen but they’re in need of an upgrade to their wideout room after underwhelming seasons from Skyy Moore and Kadarius Toney and releasing Marquez Valdes-Scantling.
They’ve also let two Super Bowl winners leave who played a pivotal role in last month’s Las Vegas victory.
