On Wednesday, the Kansas City Chiefs and star quarterback Patrick Mahomes agreed to a new contract that will see the face of the league average $63.1 million per season through 2033.
The contract website Spotrac now has the details of the agreement. Expect some eye rolling and panic upon viewing Mahomes’ next few scheduled salary cap hits.
Simply put, there is little flexibility in paying more than half a billion dollars over eight years. This number also has to be paired with the over $113 million the Chiefs have paid Mahomes in recent seasons but have not yet charged to the salary cap because of previous restructures.
After taking in $56.7 million for 2026, Mahomes’ actual dollar compensation will increase annually until 2033, when he is set to make $70 million.
With the Chiefs restructuring Mahomes’s contract in February to free up cap space, his $34.7 million charge for 2026 remains untouched. The Chiefs defied expectations by not getting ahead of the deal’s previously scheduled $85 million number for the 2027 cap. Instead, the front office actually made its job slightly more difficult.
Mahomes now has a $90.3 million cap hit next season — with charges exceeding $80 million for 2028 and 2029. As more restructures inevitably happen, future cap hits will soon balloon to over $100 million.
The quarterback has secured a guarantee structure similar to the one he had when he originally signed a 10-year extension in 2020. At signing, he is guaranteed $150.3 million. This includes all of his 2026 and 2027 salary — and $35.5 million of his 2028 earnings.
The remainder of his 2028 salary will vest at the start of that league year, and about half of his 2029 earnings will also become guaranteed in March of 2028. That structure will follow through 2032.
The final season covered in the agreement will be in 2033, when Mahomes will be 38. No money on the last year vests early. While the Chiefs may actually need to make a decision on Mahomes’ future at that point, history suggests this deal will likely have been adjusted again by that point.
As with most significant contracts signed with Kansas City, Mahomes will receive a $1 million workout bonus each season. Chiefs fans should also hope that Mahomes comes as close to the contract’s $522.3 million maximum value as possible. He can earn an extra $1.25 million for any season in which the Chiefs win the Super Bowl during the covered timespan. Mahomes can also earn $1.25 million in any season that he is named the NFL’s Most Valuable Player in combination with an AFC Championship Game appearance.
Truthfully, the Chiefs will continue to have a tight salary cap situation for the rest of Mahomes’ career. That is largely the cost of having a top quarterback. Expect yearly restructures each March to spread the money out. The deal reportedly includes two void years at the end, allowing Kansas City to continue borrowing against future cap room if needed.
However, prorated charges from previous restructures will continue to stack. The Chiefs have continuously managed to lower Mahomes’ cap charge into the $30 million range. Starting in 2027, even maximum restructures will still see him counting over $40 million. Over the second half of the contract, Mahomes’ actual cap his will almost certainly be over $50 million.
Whenever Mahomes’ unprecedented tenure in Kansas City eventually ends, the Chiefs will be left with a large amount of dead money the following two seasons (assuming an eventual retirement happens after June 1 of whichever year that may happen).
A question that will be raised is why the Chiefs are not listing Mahomes’ future salary as optionable bonus payments, as the Philadelphia Eagles frequently do to manage cap hits. For example, over $50 million of quarterback Jalen Hurts’ 2026 earnings is listed as an optional bonus that automatically converts to a signing bonus to be spread over five seasons. Hurts never has a cap charge listed at over $47 million on his $255 million contract, although he would leave more than $54 million in dead money if he is not their quarterback in 2028.
Because a number of Philadelphia’s larger contracts reflect this structure on salary cap websites, the team’s immediate financial picture will always look brighter than that of the Chiefs, who each spring make decisions on which contracts to restructure and how much of future cap space to borrow. Effectively, Mahomes’ money will be spread around similarly, no matter how the breakdown is nominally listed.
The cap hits for Mahomes are frightening, but the Chiefs also may be counting on major increases to the limit as the league’s broadcast rights are renegotiated. The NFL can opt out of most of its existing broadcast agreements after the 2029 season, but it is widely expected to have lucrative new deals in place before then.
New television and streaming revenue will lead to major increases in the salary cap and player spending. With Mahomes slotting in at just over $63 million annually, expect a push leaguewide to get as many quarterbacks as possible locked up in the $60 million to $65 million average range in the next year as teams try to set the market ahead of new media deals.
