The Chiefs have signaled that they’re willing to revise quarterback Patrick Mahomes‘ contract this offseason.
And PFT reported earlier this month that revision should make Mahomes the league’s highest-paid player once again by Week One.
After Wednesday’s OTA practice, Mahomes was asked about the state of his contract. While the two-time MVP wants to get paid well, he also wants to be sure Kansas City has the resources to maintain a high-quality team around him.
“Me, my agent, and the team always keep open communication. We try to do whatever is the best for the team,” Mahomes said in his press conference. “But, obviously, I want to do what’s best for myself as well. But at the same time, I’ve always said, I worry about legacy and winning rings more than making money at this moment.
“But I know we keep communication, we see what’s going on around the league. But at the same time, I’ll never do anything that’s going to hurt us from keeping the great players around me. So, it’s kind of teetering on that line.”
While he’s likely to regain this title, Mahomes said he’s not necessarily driven to be the highest-paid quarterback.
“It’s more of, you just want to do whatever to not hurt other quarterbacks whenever their contracts come up,” Mahomes said. “You want to keep the bar pushing. So, it’s not about being the highest-paid guy, it’s not about making a ton of money. I’ve made enough money where I’ll be set for the rest of my life.
“But, at the same time, you’ve got to find that line where you’re making a good amount of money but you’re still keeping a lot of great players around you so you can win these Super Bowls and you’re going to be able to compete in these games.”
That line, Mahomes said, can be a hard line to walk — not just for him, but also for the rest of the QBs who are negotiating new deals.
“I think you see the guys getting paid this last offseason, they’re trying to find that right spot,” Mahomes said. “Everybody wants to get paid a lot of money. They think they’re the best at their craft, they want to get paid like that. But at the same time, if you look at the greats in the league, they found that right spot where they’re getting paid a lot of money but at the same time keeping a lot of those great players around [them]. So, I understand, you look at the team and you’ve got guys like Chris [Jones] and [L’Jarius] Sneed and even Travis [Kelce] — all these guys you need to keep around you to have these great teams. But at the same time, you want to make sure you’re taking care of yourself.
“So, we have open communication. I think that’s the biggest thing. And you see that from Clark [Hunt], you see that from coach Reid, you see that from [Brett] Veach and everybody. We just try to make sure we have the best team on that football field and everybody gets what they deserve.”