The Kansas City Chiefs haven’t been in a rush to sign star QB Patrick Mahomes to an extension.
The language from both Brett Veach and Clark Hunt has been consistent regarding Mahomes as we get closer to a potential contract extension. The team is more than confident that Mahomes will remain in Kansas City and a deal will get done. They’re less confident about putting a timetable on when a long-term extension might happen.
When Veach spoke to members of the media in a conference call on Thursday, he reiterated that Mahomes is a priority for the Chiefs.
“Pat [Mahomes] is a priority, ” Veach said. “The way we look at it now, with all that is going on, we’re going to have a lot of time to work with. Again, Pat and his agents Chris [Cabbott] and Leigh [Steinberg], know that Pat is a priority. Pat isn’t going anywhere, he’s going to be here for a long time. I can’t sit here and speak definitively, I can’t say that the fifth-year [contract option] won’t be an option or anything like that. It’d be hard for me to say that we’d have to use that. We feel that it is a priority when you have a great player, and when a great player is a priority, things get done. It’s just hard to put a timetable on exactly when and how it will all work out. But we know and I’m sure he knows that it will get done and be taken care of.”
Veach appears to be keeping their options open, and it’s not because they’re uninterested in re-signing Mahomes long-term, it’s for the sake of flexibility. He even left the idea on the table for the fifth-year option to be something that is used on Mahomes, perhaps to extend their negotiating window.
Were Kansas City to exercise a fifth-year option on Patrick Mahomes’ contract, they’d have to do so by May 30, 2020. Keep in mind that fifth-year options are guaranteed for injury, and for the quarterback position the amount should be over $24 million in cost for that fifth year. Picking up the fifth-year option would also open up the possibility of the franchise tag being used the following year.
At the end of the day, we shouldn’t expect any traction on Mahomes’ contract before the draft. While his contract is a priority for the Chiefs, it isn’t as pressing of a matter as some seem to believe.
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