NFL Insider Describes How Patrick Mahomes Might Rewrite the Chiefs’ Contract to Benefit Kansas City
Dan Graziano, an ESPN NFL insider, detailed on Monday how quarterback Patrick Mahomes of the Kansas City Chiefs could rework his contract for the 2024 campaign in order to help the franchise keep a valuable player.
Mahomes has a cap charge for the 2024 campaign of around $58.6 million, according to Spotrac. To free up more cap room, Graziano suggested that the Chiefs might “full restructure” his salary for the upcoming campaign.
More flexibility would be granted to Kansas City by “converting his $34.9 million roster bonus to a signing bonus and also converting all but the required $1.21 million veteran minimum salary to a signing bonus,” for example.
Mahomes’ contract hit would drop from its initial $58.6 million to about $23 million, leaving the Chiefs roughly $57 million in cap space.
The savings from a possible reorganization, according to Graziano, would nearly equal the price of keeping standout defensive tackle Chris Jones on a franchise tag. The projected 2024 franchise tag for defensive tackles is little over $20.9 million, according to Over the Cap.
Jones, who has been selected to the Pro Bowl each of the previous five seasons, has played a significant role in Kansas City’s three Super Bowl triumphs since 2019. In 16 regular-season starts in 2023, he racked up 10.5 sacks and 13 tackles for loss.
It doesn’t seem unlikely that Mahomes and the Chiefs will rework the 10-year, $450 million contract he signed in 2020. Actually, in September 2023, the parties have decided on a restructuring.
Now that Jones is in Kansas City, Mahomes and the Chiefs’ front staff can go back to the negotiation table to keep him there.
