Patrick Mahomes reportedly restructures contract, creates $21.6 million in cap space for Chiefs (2024)

Is on *** great contract. Is it just when you have that kind of support? I mean, is it just endearing, supportive, grateful, humbling? I don't know, to know your owner wants to be sure you are taken care of. Yeah, I mean, I'm in ***, I'm in *** great spot. Uh, I got *** lot of great people around me, um, very thankful to the Hunt family and the chief organization. Um, and glad that now I can just go out there and play football. And so, uh, you get that security, um, and I already had it, but just to get *** little bump and then be able to go back out there and just play football. I'm excited for it. But when you look at that, I know before the season you said that that really wasn't really as important for you to be the number one play because, you know, like you said, yeah, I guess it, I guess it's still the same money. We just get more of it up front over the next four years. Was it that important to you to get this done or was it more so the agent? So you could, you know, so they can get this taken care of you before and I guess to be able to, you know, set it to the top. Yeah, I think it's, I think it's just constant communication between, um, me, uh, my people, the front office, Clark Hunt, coach Reed, um, to find the right spot to where I can get paid and keep the quarterback market going. Um, at the same time, keep *** lot of great dudes around me and keep cap space um for other guys to get signed as well. And that'll be something that I'll do throughout my entire career to try to, to obviously make money for myself and my family. But I keep *** lot of great players around me as well, the balance. So that pulls you in two different directions as far as trying to keep everybody here, but being towards the top, um what is sort of the struggle there and how do you decide which end of the spectrum to fall? Yeah, I mean, um it's hard you have to, you have to watch and see what's going on, what's going on around the league and, and find that right spot and I thought we found *** good one in this, this negotiation that we did that. Um We'll be able to still keep cap space for other guys to get signed. Um but uh obviously I got *** little bit more money up front, um and then we'll we'll kinda redo it and re negotiate whenever we get to that, that mark that we talked about. So it's ***, it's *** special place and *** special relationship that I have with the, the team to be able to trust them, to be able to, to, even when I signed the last contract, know that this was gonna happen and then probably gonna happen again at some point. So you do, like throughout that process, ask yourself, how is this gonna affect 24 25 26 for, for the rest of the roster? Yeah, 100%. I mean, you have *** lot of great players that want, want to be here so we can win *** lot of Super Bowls and, uh, I wanna make *** lot of money, uh, but I also want to win, I think when you look back at, at teams and, and players, you look back at how they won and the perception of how they did things. Um And so that's what I try to manage and find the right medium of getting the money, but also winning football games. What would your advice to *** guy like Justin Field? He's talked about the game being *** little fast and want to slow it down in *** spot like that before. What would you say to him about kind of the struggles? Yeah, just trust, trust your talent, trust your instincts. He's here for *** reason. Um He's made *** lot of big plays happen in the NFL and in college wherever he's been. So just trust it in your instincts. Um And then go out there and be the player that you've always been just not against us. Hopefully, you mentioned the quarterback market, you mentioned that in spring as well. There's *** responsibility you feel to, you know, if you're the MVP of the Super bowl champion, get paid up there, how does that communication actually work? Does the union talk to you guys? Does the other agents say, listen, you guys got to get back with more money. How, how does that go down where you get that? Yeah, I mean, it's not, I mean, it's not *** ton of communication. I think it's just kind of *** known that you, you gotta keep the, the bar going, you gotta keep it moving. Um I don't want people to be negotiated against me. Um And so that, that's the reason that you do something like I did this last week, uh just trying to um get the, keep the market moving in the right direction, training in the right direction. So not only me but other quarterbacks and other positions um can get paid the money that, that they deserve. Does this kind of stuff make you study business more or do you just leave most of that advice to your agents or? Um I've, I've always kind of liked it. I mean, if I didn't become *** NFL player. I wanted to be either *** sports agent or, um, and work in sports marketing. I always wanted to help players. So I've always been interested in it. Um, and I know that I'm doing it *** different way than other people, but I feel like it's the right way for me because of the trust I have in the front office that I'm gonna still make *** lot of money and be, be set for life and for my kids and everything like that. Um But hopefully give, give us *** chance to go out there and win football games as well. You thrive under pressure when the going gets tough, you get going way up there but does *** project like this add more pressure. I, I always feel like I'm under pressure to go out there and succeed and I feel like that's the standard that I have on myself. Um And I want to go out there and maximize this opportunity that I have and I always talk about like not having regrets and I mean, the money is the money like it's awesome. It's amazing. I know I can do *** lot of great things, not only for myself, but for people that have given me so much. Um But at the end of the day, I'm gonna be look back on how I play the game and I hope that that's with intensity and leaving everything out there and hopefully that means winning *** lot of football games back on the field, um, getting the best out of my, uh, you know, I think this past week we have two targets. I think the two catches but, you know, one of your top receivers on the team and you haven't really been the point of the offense the last couple of weeks. Yeah, I mean, we haven't had, we haven't been great offensively just in general. So I think as the offense gets going and we start finding our rhythm, you're going to start seeing those shots. So Marquez down the field, you're going to see him be more involved in the offense. But when you can't stay in rhythm, that's me included as an offense. It's hard to get the guys the targets that they, that they deserve and that they should get. Um And so we have to find that rhythm and find *** way to spread the ball around and then get the guys that are the guys the catches so that we can go out there and have *** better offensive day. No, I mean, I haven't from that whole receiving room. I haven't any frustration. I mean, I think the frustration, it's probably more of me about myself and how the offense has been doing. So, uh, that, that everybody's had that mentality that we just got to keep working, keep getting better. Um, me included. Um, but obviously we want to play better because the defense is playing so well, we want to take some of that pressure off of him. This is *** much larger answer than this setting provides. But from 18 and 19 on until like now how is the game and defenses and coverages kind of made you have to be more patient with how you operate. Yeah, I mean, I mean, you just see it, we get *** lot of, *** lot more zone coverages, um *** lot more deeper coverages. I mean, you look at the, the intercepts not through the, the Watson, um, this last week, um in previous years that safety on the backside is not that deep and not able to get back there. And so I looked over to the right and saw him kind of open up his hips to the right. And so I thought there was *** chance I could throw it over the top and I got it over the top that of the guy Jay Watt was covering. I mean, that was covering Jay Watt, but the safety made *** play. So it just, it shows that defenses are going to continue to play back and make me be patient. Um, and I have to be able to do that, take what's there, um, not have negative plays happen. And then with the, with our defense playing like it is, uh we'll continue to score and then defenses will have to become aggressive at some point. You got time for *** couple more Steve and you mentioned the quarterback market, um, there's 14, if you got the meeting black quarterbacks this year, which is *** record last year, that was 11. Where do you see that, that quarterback market go? Yeah, I think it's as the, the game gets more diversified, um, and, and the way that it's played, um, I think you'll, you'll see more black quarterbacks in the league and having opportunities and I think the next step is kind of having the backup quarterbacks and stuff like that. And I think, uh, that's something that we'll continue to, to push in the right direction and it just shows that, um, you could play the quarterback position in every, *** lot of different ways. I think that's, that's the coolest thing and offensive coordinators are, are given, uh, these quarterbacks, um, no matter where you come from, the, the, the best chance to go out there and succeed. And I think if you see that this should have been happening for years because you see how high the level of quarterback play has been throughout the league. Do you guys? I know you worry about your team during the season but how do you guys push each other throughout the season there? Who's leading the group, text message? Yeah, not, not *** group text messages or anything like that, but it's always good to see those guys in the off seasons, um, in the, in the pro bowls or wherever it is. Um, and just say like, hey, man, I was watching all year *** hell of *** year. Um, and so, uh, it's, it's, uh, it's cool to see the, the position in general and how it's changed over the last few years even since I've been in the NFL. Um, and we're hoping to keep, push that, keep pushing that forward. Um, and so when we, when we leave, it's even *** better spot than when we got here. Uh, we had *** few snap issues this year so far, just on the radar on that or something. You guys got to work on as far as, yeah, I think, um, last week it was *** little bit. Uh I kind of like *** greedy on me. I try to go verbal on some of those cadences. Um And we had *** little mis miscommunication where I wasn't loud enough for those guys to hear. Um And so when we're in away game trying to go back to that silent count, just, just work on that instead of trying to be greedy and do the verbal stuff. And as far as the snaps, I mean, whenever we're going back and forth that can get *** little messed, messed up here and there. But I mean, he's done it for two, we've done it for two years and it's worked well. So we'll be right.