The Kansas City Chiefs held a press conference on Tuesday with QB Patrick Mahomes following his record-setting contract extension. He was briefly joined by Chiefs HC Andy Reid and GM Brett Veach to discuss the details surrounding Mahomes’ extension in Kansas City. Here are five takeaways from the things that Mahomes, Veach and Reid had to say:
This mega-contract has been in the works for a while
The Kansas City Chiefs knew for a long time that Mahomes was going to get an extension, but they didn’t quite envision how much they’d be paying, at least not right away.
“Really, going back to the first free agency that I was part of back in 2018, we had the mindset to structure deals to prepare for an extension for Pat (Mahomes),” Veach said. “Again, it goes to the level of belief and faith that we had in Pat and this was before he was a fulltime starter. Now, the one thing in Pat’s favor is that as the (2018) season went on, the number kept getting bigger and bigger. So we were planning for the normal quarterback market back in ’18 and. . . it just took off.”
His value took off so much so that the Chiefs’ cap gurus, Brandt Tilis and Chris Shea, soon realized they’d be forking out baseball money to Mahomes. In fact, it went back to Mike Trout’s contract which was signed in March of 2019.
“Brandt Tilis and Chris Shea. I remember when the Trout deal came out, Brandt coming down to my office and said, ‘Pat’s going to be a baseball contract. I mean that’s how good this kid’s going to be and we need to start thinking like this,'” Veach explained. “The cool thing about it is — and Coach Reid alluded to this — the maturity level of Pat, in this day and age, you’re looking around and it’s three-year deals, four-year deals. But Pat was so committed to this city and wanted security, certainly like every player does. But also wanted to be here and to win and to establish a dynasty. So he said, ‘Shoot let’s be creative, let’s figure out a way to do this. I want to be here for the rest of my career and I want to win.’ So the discussions on this contract have really been years in the making.”
Since Brett Veach took over for John Dorsey following the 2017 NFL Draft, everything has been done methodically so that this contract could happen. They might have needed to make a few tweaks along the way, but so far the front office has been very precise and deliberate in their decision-making with Mahomes.
Keeping other players was a priority for Mahomes
“How can we get creative to set those benchmarks, but also find a way to surround [Patrick Mahomes] with talent?”
That’s a rhetorical question that Chiefs general manager Brett Veach posed to reporters during today’s press conferences. As it turns out the answer was simply to be on the same page with your quarterback and his representation.
“I’ll tell you, Pat was very cautious about the whole situation about being able to keep players,” Andy Reid said. “He was in the dialogue there and he made it known to us that however we can work that out we can do it.”
Mahomes and his agents, in fact, named the ability to keep players around him one of the two things that were important to him during the course of contract negotiations.
“Obviously, I wanted the security to take care of my family and future generations of family,” Mahomes said. “But I also wanted to keep great players around me. I’m not going to sit here and lie and say that having a great football team around me doesn’t help me when I’m on the field. So I wanted to find the best way that I could do that. I feel like as we talked and as Chris (Cabbott) and all these guys talked, they came to me with this idea and this concept of making me financially secure but having the ability to go out and sign and re-sign all these guys. Like we’re returning 20-of-22 starters — I knew that this was going to be the right way to do it where we can accomplish both of those things that are so important to me.”
Mahomes wants to be sure that his teammates are also able to be rewarded and paid for their success, after all, football is a team game.
Kansas City was also very important in this decision
The Chiefs had a vision Patrick Mahomes and so far it’s exceeded expectations. In just his second year as a starting quarterback, he’s already accomplished things that have taken others their entire career. For Mahomes, continuing that legacy and doing so in Kansas City was very important in his decision.
“I want to thank the Chiefs Kingdom,” Mahomes said. “Obviously, their support for me has been tremendous since the day I got drafted. The fact that they’ve been behind me and supported me has been truly special and it’s a one-of-a-kind thing. I knew from the moment I stepped on Arrowhead field that this is the place I wanted to be for my entire career.”
The community in Kansas City has accepted Mahomes and supported him not only on the field but off the field as well. Having the ability to make an impact in Kansas City and beyond also helped his contract decision.
“There’s so much opportunity to go out there and help the world become the best place that it could possibly be,” Mahomes said. “Having this security and this trust within the organization and obviously the financial help, I’ll be able to do that. Not only in the Kansas City community where I hope to impact as much as I can as quickly as I can but hopefully around the world. To have the trust of the organization to be behind me not only on but off the field as well, I feel like I’ll be able to make a huge impact in this world in many ways. I’m just excited for the next step and continue to do whatever I can to help achieve that.”
Still no retirement thoughts for Chiefs HC Andy Reid.
Andy Reid isn’t going anywhere anytime soon. In fact, Mahomes wanted to make sure of it before he signed the contract.
“I talked to him before the deal,” Mahomes said. “And he told me had no thoughts of retirement and that was a huge part of it.”
Kansas City Star beat reporter Herbie Teope asked Reid about his thoughts on Mahomes’ extension knowing that he’d be in his early 70’s when the contract is up.
“I haven’t gotten to that point mentally where I’m thinking about retirement,” Reid said. “I love doing what I’m doing. One of the great things about this job is when you look forward to coming to work to deal with the guys, the players, the coaches and I’m lucky enough to be around good players and coaches. And then this guy here (Patrick Mahomes) makes it even better. We always talk about, the great quarterbacks make everyone around them greater. He has the unique ability to do that with his teammates and the Honey Badger (Tyrann Mathieu) is a part of this too. He was the first one to text myself and Brett (Veach) when the deal got done… Both of those two make our jobs very enjoyable. Being able to come to work and have two great leaders like that along with the other guys that love to play the game.”
Reid hasn’t lost any of his passion for coaching and the team he has right now seems to make his job as easy and fun as it has ever been.
“So listen, if it takes me into my 70’s, then let’s roll,” Reid said. “Doggone it, I’m ready to go.”
Trust is the foundation of the Chiefs franchise
A big theme talked about by Patrick Mahomes, Brett Veach and Andy Reid was trust.
What’s becoming abundantly clear is that the Chiefs’ franchise is built on trust and it’s something that can be credited for the success they’ve seen since Mahomes first arrived with the team in 2017.
“I think trust is something that’s built,” Mahomes said. “I feel like with my three years that I’ve been with the Chiefs organization you see the trust that everyone has within each other. Everything that Coach Reid says and everything that Veach says and everyone in this organization say, those things happen. They put in the work every single day. It’s like a challenge if I ever want to beat Coach Reid or Veach to the facility one of these days. They work as hard as everyone.
“When you have a culture like that from the top down. From Clark Hunt all the way down to 75th — 90th or whatever man it is on the roster. That trust and culture is something that I want to be a part of. It’s something that is built every single day. It’s been built every day that I’ve been a part of this organization.”
This deal between the Chiefs and Mahomes truly couldn’t have happened anywhere else but in Kansas City.
“No offense, but you can’t do this with every single organization,” Mahomes said. “With the stability and the culture that we have in the Chiefs organization. I felt very comfortable and had a lot of trust that I could do a contract like this, knowing that we’re going to have the same stability by the time I’m at the end of that contract.”
In fact, Mahomes believes it’s the trust within the organization that makes it so great.
“I think that’s the special thing about this organization,” Mahomes explained. “Like Veach said, there’s trust in everybody. As much as I trust in them, they trust in me. And we were able to go out there and get this contract done the right way, [the way] that gives me the security that I’ve always wanted but also allows opportunities for the team to be great around me the entire duration of my career. I have full trust that things will get handled the right way as we go throughout this career and we will be in the position to win a lot of football games and hopefully win a lot more championships as my career goes on.”
I think every member of the Chiefs Kingdom can get on board with this line of thinking.
