The Kansas City Chiefs and quarterback Patrick Mahomes have agreed to a restructured contract that adds two years to his deal and pushes the total compensation past a half-billion dollars, a person familiar with the terms told The Associated Press on Wednesday. ESPN and NFL Network also confirmed the deal.
The person spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity because the Chiefs do not disclose financial terms of their contracts.
Mahomes signed a 10-year, $450 million contract in 2020 that set a benchmark not only for the quarterback position but for any football player. The latest extension ties the two-time MVP to the Chiefs through the 2033 season, when Mahomes will be 38, and it comes in at $504.75 million, with incentives and escalators that could push the value to $522.25 million.
“The magic continues,” his agency, Equity Sports, and its chief executive Chris Cabott wrote on social media Wednesday.
The Chiefs and Mahomes regularly rework his contract in the offseason, giving the team the financial flexibility to surround him with enough talent to compete for championships. The latest deal, though, includes a massive pay increase after recent deals done for other quarterbacks — among them Dak Prescott, Jordan Love, Joe Burrow and Josh Allen — had reset the QB market.
Prescott’s four-year deal included a league-leading average of $60 million per year. Mahomes will now average $63.1 million.
Mahomes underwent season-ending surgery last December after tearing ligaments in his left knee in the waning minutes of a loss to the Chargers. He has spent the entire offseason rehabbing the injury in Kansas City, and he has been on the field for the entirety of the Chiefs’ offseason program, which concludes Thursday with the final day of their mandatory three-day minicamp.
“I like what I’ve seen. He’s working hard,” Chiefs coach Andy Reid said earlier in offseason workouts. “This is good for him, I mean getting out there and throwing. It’s good rehab as he continues to rehab, so he keeps the feel with the wide receivers. Or he’s doing partial practice and — but it’s important that he keeps his timing up. He’s busting his tail to put himself in this position.”
Mahomes has insisted ever since his injury that his goal was to be ready for Week 1 of the coming season.
The Chiefs play their preseason opener against the Rams on Aug. 15, but their regular-season opener is not until Sept. 14, when they face defending AFC West champion Denver in a marquee Monday night matchup at Arrowhead Stadium.
“I want to be out there with my guys,” Mahomes said recently, “but I know that’s still a long ways away, and so all I can do is execute the day and do whatever I can do to be better that day. We’ve done that up until now, and we’ve set these checkpoints and these goals of where I want to be at, and I’ve gotten to those. So now I just have to continue to do that at the right pace.”
Mahomes has been shattering records ever since the Chiefs made him their starter for the 2018 season. He has thrown for nearly 36,000 yards, earned six Pro Bowl nods and won three Super Bowl titles in five trips to the championship game.
The Chiefs had been to three straight Super Bowls before finishing a disappointing 6-11 last season. Mahomes was on injured reserve for the final three games, all of them losses, while the Chiefs turned their attention toward the coming season.
“As a competitor and as a football player, I want to be there,” Mahomes said. “I can’t predict the future. All I can do is be great today and then continue to be great tomorrow, but I’ve gotten to where I’ve gotten to because of that mindset and the goal at the end — the very far end — is to be ready and to be able to go out there and play with the guys Week 1.”
