Mahomes brushes off exploding QB market: I'm 'set for life'
Although Patrick Mahomes' contract looks more team-friendly with every new blockbuster quarterback extension, the Kansas City Chiefs star is just happy to see his compatriots get paid.
"Yeah, I mean, it's awesome," Mahomes said Friday, according to Charles Goldman of Chiefs Wire. "Not just the quarterback market, but the market of players in general. You want the salary cap going up, you want players getting more and more money."
Mahomes set an NFL record when he signed a 10-year deal reportedly worth $450 million ahead of the 2020 campaign. However, Mahomes' average yearly salary of $45 million has now been surpassed by three quarterbacks - Aaron Rodgers ($50 million), Deshaun Watson ($46 million), and Kyler Murray, per Over The Cap - following Murray's five-year, reportedly $230.5-million contract.
The 2018 MVP still boasts the largest total deal. However, Watson received a fully guaranteed $230-million pact upon his trade to the Cleveland Browns, while Murray is set to earn $160 million guaranteed. Additionally, Rodgers got more fully guaranteed money than Mahomes ($101.4 million versus $63.1 million) despite only signing a three-year extension.
But Mahomes, who's coming off his fourth straight Pro Bowl season, knows money will never be an issue for him.
"When I signed my deal, I knew I was going to be pretty set for life regardless of what the market kind of happens," Mahomes said. "But you just keep playing. Money is one thing, but when you get those Super Bowl rings, at the end of your career, I think that's going to be what you look back upon.
"I think I've made enough money from the football field, and then obviously off of it as well, that it won't matter at the end of the day."
While Mahomes could soon be knocked out of the top-five highest-paid quarterbacks when the likes of Lamar Jackson, Joe Burrow, and Justin Herbert ink their first NFL extensions, he understands it's an inevitable part of the football business.
"Especially at the quarterback position, the next guy is kind of the top-paid guy," Mahomes said. "Any of these top-tier quarterbacks, they make such a difference on NFL teams, it's going to get passed up.
"Even if you look at the guys who signed last year to this year, they got passed up. And I'm sure when Burrow, Herbert, and all these guys come around, they'll keep setting the bar even higher."