KANSAS CITY, Mo. _ Patrick Mahomes' contract is without precedent because he is without precedent. We know this to be true. That's the primary reason he now owns the first half-billion-dollar contract in global professional sports history _ bigger than contracts commanded by Mike Trout, Canelo Alvarez or LeBron James.
But being 24 years old, a league and Super Bowl MVP and the best at sports' most important position was not enough to earn him a 10-year extension worth $503 million.
This historic deal _ until now the world's richest athlete has never played football, and never lived in Kansas City _ also required enduringly strong relationships between Mahomes, Chiefs general manager Brett Veach and Chris Cabott, Mahomes' lead agent and the COO and president of Steinberg Sports and Entertainment.
"I knew the moment I stepped on Arrowhead field that this is the place I wanted to be for my entire career," Mahomes said.
Veach and Cabott are roughly the same age, grew up about 2 hours apart in Pennsylvania and share similar worldviews. Their bond grew largely from a mutual love for Mahomes.
Cabott believed Mahomes was his draft class' best quarterback after watching the Texas Tech Red Raiders play in the Texas Bowl against LSU after the 2015 season. And Cabott came to see Veach as the only person who believed in Mahomes as much as he did.
When they met, Cabott's highest-profile client was a fourth-rounder. Veach was third or fourth in the Chiefs' football personnel hierarchy. Each possessed effective gifts for his respective discipline, along with inexhaustible work ethics. Mahomes' otherworldly talent would bring those traits to light and help propel each man toward the top of his field.
"We saw this kid and we had a vision," Veach said. "We knew pairing Pat with Coach Reid was going to be something special and they were going to be able to accomplish things the league hadn't seen before."
Mahomes established quick and deep trust with Cabott. Mahomes and his family liked the combination of Cabott's energy and conviction with the legacy and track record of Leigh Steinberg, a giant among sports agents.
During the draft process, Mahomes began telling friends he hoped the Chiefs would select him _ both because of Andy Reid's reputation as an offensive coach and Veach's belief in him.
The Chiefs have discussed and prepared for this extension since the day they drafted Mahomes three years ago. They structured other contracts to allow for Mahomes' payday, notably those of receiver Sammy Watkins, defensive lineman Frank Clark and safety Tyrann Mathieu.
In many ways, Veach and Cabott planned out this future together.
"It was unique in the sense there was never a sense of, 'We need to win this, or we have to win this.' This was, 'How can we get this done?'" Veach said. "I've seen it in bigger and longer deals. There's always a contentious point, and I don't think it ever reached that. We were just all on the same page. We were all committed to making this work."
Mahomes chose Cabott. He feels love for Veach. But he is also obsessively detail-oriented, perhaps as much in business as he is with football. So he called Cabott daily, constantly, a round of golf never complete before at least a conversation or two. Mahomes asked questions. He sought counsel. He made decisions.
"I was deep in there," he said.
He was always going to be the game's highest-paid player. That's been a lock since 2018, when he won the NFL MVP trophy in his first season as a starter.
His choices then came in different flavors, all of them delicious: He could wait a year, or even two, and see how the market responded after Dak Prescott, Deshaun Watson and Lamar Jackson and others got paid; he could sign a more traditional extension of five years (that's the limit of how far signing bonuses can be spread for cap purposes), or he could sign what is effectively a lifetime contract with the Chiefs.
He is genuinely happy in Kansas City. How could he not be? His coach is destined for the Pro Football Hall of Fame and a perfect fit for Mahomes' unique talents. Travis Kelce could be the game's best tight end, and Tyreek Hill is among its most dynamic receivers. The Kansas City offensive line protects well, and the Chiefs continue to add skill-position talent and defensive prowess.
Mahomes won a Super Bowl here, and now he has a chance to be the centerpiece of the league's next dynasty.
Neither player nor team had reason to look elsewhere, but NFL contracts have a notoriously short shelf life _ careers cliff-dive, or record salaries become pedestrian in short order.
Both sides, then, sought protections. Mahomes prioritized long-term security. The Chiefs needed to know the deal would not make them house poor _ spending so much on a quarterback that the rest of their roster would be neglected.
Even in those priorities, the sides found common ground. Mahomes' college teams went 16-21. He knows his stature around the league, and eventually his career, will be judged on wins more than dollars or statistics.
The Chiefs went 43 years _ between Len Dawson's retirement and Mahomes' first season as a starter _ without a franchise quarterback. Clark Hunt, the chairman and founder's son, knows that history personally. He would do whatever it took to retain this unicorn.
The solution came in a collaboration between Veach and Cabott _ that mutual respect and trust.
Enter "guarantee mechanisms" _ basically a series of rolling club options, where the team must guarantee all bonuses and salary one or two years in advance by the third day of the league year. These have been used in some contracts before, but never on this scale.
For example: In March of 2026, a $49 million roster bonus for the 2027 season would be fully guaranteed to Mahomes.
The structure gives Mahomes financial security in both the long-term and short-term, with $103.5 million guaranteed by next March and $141.4 million guaranteed by March 2022. Mahomes also gets a no-trade clause, and the contract's size means cutting him before the last few years of the agreement would create untenable cap hits.
So, there's his security.
"The biggest thing to me was those guarantee mechanisms and the later years in the contract," Mahomes said. "Those were the deal-sealers to me. Knowing they had full trust in me and the Chiefs are going to do whatever they can to have the best team around me every single year, and hopefully until the end of my career."
It also gives the Chiefs control over the pace of the payouts, with mile-markers set for potential restructuring. So, there's their flexibility.
It's a remarkably creative deal, serving the highest needs of both sides.
No player has had the power of Mahomes, and it could be years until we see another NFL player possess this much leverage in contract negotiations.
Then again, we might never see another player with this much leverage, or a deal borne from this much mutual and productive trust.
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