The Tampa Bay Buccaneers former star Tom Brady is now out of the NFL following his second-time retirement announcement in February this year. By turning below-average teams to top Super Bowl contenders, the legendary quarterback earned an irreplaceable spot in football fans’ hearts. The Kansas City Chiefs Patrick Mahomes has been one of the fanboys of TB12 for years.
Besides Brady’s phenomenal on-field performance to earn seven Lombardi trophies, his commitment to the Bucs and New England Patriots was equally commendable. Despite arguably being the best player of his time, the veteran never demanded to be the highest-paid star and Mahomes is willing to follow this side of him too throughout his career.
Chiefs QB Patrick Mahomes wants to follow NFL icon Tom Brady’s contract approach
Pat is now undoubtedly the biggest star in the NFL after leading his team to win two Championship titles in the last four seasons and hence, demanding the most amount in salary is quite justified in his case. However, he decided to follow Brady’s strategy to offer financial flexibility to his team.
“I’ve looked at Tom’s model and how he did it. That’s it — you want to make money for yourself and for your family. You want to keep pushing the market forward for other quarterbacks.”
𝗧𝗥𝗘𝗡𝗗𝗜𝗡𝗚: #Chiefs star QB Patrick Mahomes says he’s “trying to find a balance” between getting paid fairly, but not taking too much money away from the team, so they can keep the roster intact.
He compares it to how Tom Brady did it during his career, he told… pic.twitter.com/lujUHyoCJc
— JPAFootball (@jasrifootball) August 1, 2023
Tom Terrific used to take less salary to ensure the team is paying well to his fellow teammates as well and Mahomes too want to follow that path. He said he wants all the veteran troops around him in Kansas City and also wants his team to offer good pay to them as well.
“You don’t want to be someone that they (use against other players). But at the same time, I want these other guys to get paid. I want Chris Jones to be in training camp. I want Travis Kelce to always be making money. I want everybody on the team here.”
The two-time MVP has no issue with being the eight-highest-paid QB in the league despite overshadowing them in terms of performances. Instead, his agenda is to meet the financial requirements of his family and support the Chiefs to keep other top players on their roster too.
“To me, it’s not always about being the highest-paid. It’s about making enough money for me and my family, and keep moving the game forward for everybody.”
What is Patrick Mahomes’ annual NFL salary? exploring who earns the highest per season
Mahomes sent shockwaves in the NFL after signing a 10-year, $450 million contract extension with the Chiefs back in 2021, marking the largest in the history of the league at the time. However, the signal-caller has been overshadowed by a number of quarterbacks in terms of his average annual pay of $45 million per season.
The Los Angeles Chargers Justin Herbert’s 5 years, $262.5 million including $218.7 million guaranteed money and an average annual salary of $52.5 million has recently made him the highest-paid quarterback in the league. Only the Chargers veteran, Lamar Jackson and Jalen Hurts now earn above $50 million in AAV. The New York Jets’ new starter Aaron Rodgers was also in the group at the start of the offseason, albeit he restructured the deal with Gang Green by lowering his AAV to $37.5 million to provide them with financial flexibility.
The Chiefs team has already spoken about their plans to restructure Mahomes’ deal to let him compete with the top-paid quarterbacks in the league, albeit the dual-threat has never bothered about it. Meanwhile, his mission to steal Brady’s place in terms of performance and team commitment will continue to place him high on the favorite list of every Chiefs fan.
