The gift that keeps giving for the Chiefs, Patrick Mahomes‘ contract has now been restructured four times. Having franchise-tagged Trey Smith and paid Nick Bolton and then Kristian Fulton, the Chiefs are again turning to the Mahomes restructure tactic.
Kansas City is also completing a base-to-bonus restructure on Chris Jones‘ contract, according to ESPN.com’s Field Yates, who indicates these two moves saved the defending AFC champions $49.4MM. After coming into Wednesday over the cap, the Chiefs now hold more than $29MM in space ahead of the 2025 league year.
Even five years after it was signed, Mahomes’ 10-year, $450MM deal remains the NFL’s only deal to run through 2031. The megastar quarterback gave up a more lucrative path by locking himself in on that July 2020 extension. Only Josh Allen has come close to replicating Mahomes’ path, as the reigning MVP’s initial Bills deal — one since updated — is the only six-year QB contract to be finalized since. Rather than coming back to the table, Mahomes remains under Chiefs control for many years.
The Chiefs did rework Mahomes’ contract after the wave of $50MM-AAV deals hit in 2023, moving money around to create $133.7MM in guarantees. That said, the contract running through 2031 continues to give the Chiefs short-term flexibility. The franchise will undoubtedly do more work on this deal moving forward, as the restructures have spiked Mahomes’ 2026 cap hit beyond $78MM and his 2027 number past $74MM.
Jones agreed to a more player-friendly deal last year, resetting the defensive tackle market shortly before the 2024 legal tampering period. The Chiefs gave Jones $95MM guaranteed in total on a five-year, $158.75MM contract. That number came in well north of where the Chiefs were willing to go during Jones’ 2023 holdout, but after another dominant season, the team relented as the future Hall of Famer neared free agency. As the Chiefs attempt to trek to a fourth straight Super Bowl, they are using their top two players’ contracts as tools to free up immediate funds.