To this point, Chiefs general manager Brett Veach has done a masterful job of managing the team’s cap, making necessary sacrifices (such as allowing Orlando Brown to walk to Cincinnati) in order to retain enough cap space to address needs elsewhere. Mahomes’ role in this will remain important for as long as he’s on the roster, considering no position makes more per year on average than quarterback, and the fact Mahomes’ presence is essential to the Chiefs’ chances of contending for future titles.
Mahomes is well aware of this. He’s been around long enough to see what a few bloated contracts can do to the overall strength of a team. He’s not interested in falling out of the elite tier of NFL teams just to make a few more million per year, yet he also understands the challenges that come with balancing the cap.
“Yeah, it is,” Mahomes said when asked if it was difficult to pay key players and still be competitive. “I think it is for all these guys. And I think you see the guys getting paid this last offseason, they’re trying to find that right spot. Everybody wants to get paid a lot of money. And when they think they’re the best at their craft, they want to get paid like that. But at the same time, if you look at the greats in the league, they find that right spot where they’re getting paid a lot of money, but at the same time keeping a lot of these great players around me.”
Chiefs have come and gone during Mahomes’ tenure. Last year, Kansas City made the tough decision to trade Mahomes’ top target, Tyreek Hill, to Miami, where Hill immediately received the top contract among all NFL receivers at $30 million per year.
That type of deal would handcuff Veach to an extent. Instead of deciding with his heart, Veach made the wise business decision to trade Hill and use that cap elsewhere. In the end, it produced Kansas City’s second title in four seasons.