On Monday, Kansas City Chiefs’ quarterback Patrick Mahomes signed a 10-year extension worth $503 million, the largest money contract in the history of professional sports, according to CBS Sports.
The deal includes $477 million in guaranteed money and will keep Mahomes under center in Kansas City until he is 36 years old.
In a day and age where even the best players move around from team to team with each contract, it is refreshing to see a franchise step up to the plate and pay the best player in the game a sum that will keep him in the same uniform for his entire career, harkening back to the days of Dan Marino and John Elway.
The signing is also good news for quarterbacks that are nearing the end of their deals. While they won’t be able to command the salary of the current best QB on the planet, they can demand more on Monday than they could the day before.
The deal will also increase the annual salary for any quarterback who accepts a franchise tag, as that designation requires that teams pay the player who agrees to the one-year offer an average of the top-5 players at his position.
Bettors who wager on Super Bowl odds are more than familiar with Mahomes, who won the MVP award for SB LIV after handing the San Francisco 49ers a crushing 31-20 defeat that required a late rally, but many fair-weather fans might be wondering if the Chiefs’ QB is worth a contract worth half a billion dollars.
For those in doubt, have a look at the following Super Bowl 55 futures odds for evidence of his value to the team.
Super Bowl LV odds provided by Bovada Sportsbook.
Super Bowl 55 Winner
- Kansas City Chiefs +600
- Baltimore Ravens +650
- San Francisco 49ers +900
- New Orleans Saints +1000
- Tampa Bay Buccaneers +1000
- New England Patriots +1200
- Dallas Cowboys +1600
- Indianapolis Colts +2000
- Philadelphia Eagles +2000
- Seattle Seahawks +2000
- Buffalo Bills +2200
- Pittsburgh Steelers +2200
- Green Bay Packers +2400
- Tennessee Titans +2800
- Cleveland Browns +3000
- Minnesota Vikings +3000
- Atlanta Falcons +3500
- Arizona Cardinals +4000
- Chicago Bears +4000
- Denver Broncos +5000
- Los Angeles Chargers +5000
- Las Vegas Raiders +5500
- Los Angeles Rams +6000
- Detroit Lions +6600
- Houston Texans +6600
- Miami Dolphins +8000
- New York Giants +9000
- New York Jets +9000
- Carolina Panthers +12500
- Cincinnati Bengals +15000
- Washington Redskins +15000
- Jacksonville Jaguars +20000
The Chiefs are favored to repeat as Super Bowl champions in 2020 by most sportsbooks, and their +600 odds can provide a massive payout if wagered upon and they win.
It should be noted that Mahomes was also able to win an NFL championship for coach Andy Reid after fielding excellent teams in Philadelphia and Kansas City for the past twenty years and routinely coming up short. He can overcome seemingly insurmountable curses and make it look easy.
Outside of Mahomes’ abilities to routinely win big games, he also posts astronomical statistics, offering a season’s worth of highlights over the course of each game. The kid is a freak, and the following prop bets have set a high benchmark that even the most talented quarterbacks that have ever played the game have rarely met.
Patrick Mahomes: 2020 Passing Touchdowns
- Over 36.5 -165
- Under 36.5 +125
Patrick Mahomes: 2020 Passing Yards
- Over 4699.5 -115
- Under 4699.5 -115
Using these prop bets as our guide, we can assume a stat line for Patrick Mahomes for the 2020 regular NFL season in the neighborhood of 4700 passing yards and 38 TDs, and that doesn’t include his rushing totals.
Now consider that he is also the odds-on favorite to be the 2020 NFL MVP, as well as the Offensive Player of the Year, and the picture becomes clear.
Patrick Mahomes has the potential to become the greatest quarterback to ever play the game and should be paid any amount of money, Bitcoin, luxury yachts, whatever it takes, to retain his services.
Kansas City got the memo.