Chiefs exercise fifth-year option on Super Bowl MVP Patrick Mahomes, source says
The Chiefs have exercised a fifth-year contract option on Super Bowl MVP quarterback Patrick Mahomes, a source familiar with the situation confirmed to The Star Thursday morning.
The NFL Network was first to report the news, which was not unexpected as the Chiefs continue to work toward a massive new contract for their 24-year-old superstar. The option year allows the team more time to do so.
While the Chiefs haven’t said when they’ll have new a deal in place with Mahomes, they’ve remained steadfast in their approach to taking care of their franchise quarterback with a larger, multi-year extension worth many millions.
Kansas City faced a league-wide May 4 deadline for exercising the option. General manager Brett Veach left the option on the table two weeks ago. Mahomes’ base salary in 2020, the final year of his rookie contract, pays him $825,000.
“If we feel that it’s a priority when you have a great player, and that great player is a priority, things get done,” Veach said on April 16. “It’s just hard to put a timetable on exactly when and how that will all work out. But we know and I’m sure he knows that it will get done and it will be taken care of.”
The fifth-year option for Mahomes, the 10th overall pick of the 2017 NFL Draft, carries a price tag of $24.8 million, according to CBS Sports’ contract and salary cap expert Joel Corry. Once exercised, the fifth-year option is guaranteed for injury, and the option year becomes “fully guaranteed on the first day of the league year in the fifth contract year, which will be mid-March 2021,” Corry wrote.
Chiefs chairman and CEO Clark Hunt addressed Mahomes’ contract situation last weekend.
“I really can’t say it’s something that’s going to happen in the next three months, the next six months,” Hunt said. “It’s a priority for us and it’s also a priority for Patrick’s team, so I know it’s something that’s going to get done in the near-term. Anytime that we’re talking about a big contract for the Kansas City Chiefs, I’m intimately involved in those conversations with Brett and his cap staff.”
The fifth-year option on Mahomes addresses two internal items for the Chiefs.
In addition to giving them time to work out Mahomes’ next deal, the option also allows the Chiefs to focus on a new contract for defensive tackle Chris Jones, who received their non-exclusive franchise designation in March. Jones and the Chiefs have until July 15 to agree on a new long-term contract.
In the absence of such a deal, Jones would have to sign the franchise offer and play the 2020 season under the tag, earning a base salary of $16.1 million.
Having sufficient salary-cap space will be essential for the Chiefs to hammer out a deal with Mahomes, who projects to reset the quarterback market with his new contract. The Chiefs currently have $4.9 million in cap space, according to the NFLPA’s Public Salary Cap Report.
Since joining the Chiefs in 2017, Mahomes has certainly proved worthy of a lucrative contract. In addition to helping them win their first Super Bowl championship in 50 years, he has established numerous NFL and team passing records over the past two seasons, including becoming the fastest player to reach 7,500 career passing yards.
Over the past two regular seasons, Mahomes holds a 23-7 record while passing for 9,128 yards and 76 touchdowns against 17 interceptions. He’s also rushed for 490 yards and four touchdowns on 103 carries.
He was named the NFL’s MVP in 2018.
