KANSAS CITY, Mo. — J.I. Halsell calls Patrick Mahomes' new contract a rare deal. And not just for the half-billion dollars tied to it.
"The length makes it unique," Halsell, an NFL salary cap expert and former Washington football team front office staffer, said. "You rarely see 10 new years. Considering the fact that he was already under contract for two more years, it's really a 12-year deal. You rarely see a 12-year deal."
That part helps the Chiefs, who have control of the Super Bowl MVP and face of the NFL for the next dozen seasons. But the way the guaranteed money is structured, it makes it very hard for the Chiefs to get out of the deal. And that benefits Mahomes.
"Depending upon when they would try to get out of it, or if they would ever try to," Halsell said. "You would have anywhere from one year of additional compensation at a very high level that you would have to pay him or two years even."
Sure enough, Mahomes has a roster bonus in the year 2025 of around $39M. But that number becomes guaranteed in 2023.
"Both sides should be applauded for the level of creativity," Halsell said. "Both sides can hang their hat on something."
In almost 20 years, I’ve seen a lot of contracts, but i’ve never seen a contract that was 117 pages long like Mahomes’ deal. #GrabsCoffee
— J.I. Halsell (@SalaryCap101) July 7, 2020
Chiefs general manager Brett Veach mentioned Tuesday that's unheard of for a player to sign a deal worth that much money but still be considered unselfish. But that's the case with Mahomes and his value in the NFL.
"Considering the salary cap will probably explode after we get past economic and pandemic issues, we can see the growth and the revenue of the league which is going to allow players salaries to increase," Halsell said. "And Pat is locked in for 12 years and he won't be able to take advantage of that."
You read that right.
"This deal, while half-a-billion sounds like a big number, will in short order become a bargain for the Kansas City Chiefs."
The contract focus now for the Super Bowl champs shifts to defensive tackle Chris Jones, who has been franchise-tagged by the team, and has until next week to sign a new deal.
Halsell says with the moving target that is the salary cap, any deal can be done. It's just a matter of how the team values the player.
"It's not the salary cap or Pat's deal that would preclude the Chiefs getting a deal done with Chris Jones. It's a matter of: Can they come to an agreement on what his market value is?"
