In the wake of their recent Super Bowl Championship, and with one of the best young quarterbacks in the NFL at the helm, it appears the Kansas Chiefs are on the verge of building a long-lasting NFL dynasty…
by: Davis McKenna
Prior to the 2019-20 NFL Football season, there existed fifty years of anguish for fans of the Kansas City Chiefs. The team’s embattled supporters have been subjected to decades of underachievement and a lack of postseason excitement. Fortunately, their win over the Tennessee Titans in the AFC Championship game this past January helped the Chiefs to become AFC Champions, standing them in good stead for their Super Bowl victory over the San Francisco 49ers. The second half of Super Bowl LIV was when the Chiefs really came into their own, coming back from a 10-point deficit in the third quarter to eventually blow away the San Francisco 49ers, a come-back story on par with some of the wildest, unscripted sporting headlines of all time.
It’s been a long road to success for the Chiefs, particularly when you consider that ten years ago they were considered one of the worst and most defective franchises in the entirety of the NFL. Now, the Chiefs are narrow favorites to secure back-to-back Super Bowl titles in February, with FOX Bet rating them as +600 contenders in the Super Bowl futures NFL odds, compared with the +650 rated Baltimore Ravens. All of this is owed to the dynamic, all-star roster that owner Clark Hunt and head coach Andy Reid have crafted together.
When promising quarterback Patrick Mahomes, out of Texas Tech, burst onto the scene in 2017, few could have predicted he would make the impact he has thus far. Arriving as the tenth overall selection in the 2017 NFL Draft, he was a backup to veteran quarterback Alex Smith in his rookie year. The following year, with Smith traded to the Washington Redskins, the path was clear for Mahomes to make his mark, an opportunity he took full advantage of. That year, he became the first quarterback to throw for 5,000 yards in a single season at college and in the NFL, eventually racking up 50 touchdown passes along the way.
Mahomes went on to collect all the major awards that year as he was named the NFL’s MVP for 2018-19 as well as the Offensive Player of the Year. Despite being a marked man, Mahomes would go one step further in 2019-20, leading the Chiefs to victory in Super Bowl LIV, bagging the Super Bowl LIV MVP award for his efforts. His reward for this remarkable achievement was a ten-year contract worth up to $503 million — the most expensive contract in professional sports in North America.
Remarkably, Mahomes’ colossal deal included stipulations that had positive effects for the entirety of the Chiefs’ roster. Although Mahomes was keen to secure his long-term future with Kansas City, a key part of his contract negotiations was to ensure his contract would give the Chiefs wiggle room in their budget. This will help the Chiefs maintain the rest of their roster, working with Mahomes to build an unforgettable legacy — both on the field, and also off the field in the community.
Brett Veach, general manager of the Chiefs, said at the time of Mahomes’ new contract that the deal would give the Chiefs’ hierarchy “more flexibility” to “surround him with talent” in the years ahead. Mahomes is desperate to keep playing with the likes of Chris Jones and Tyreek Hill — players that will give the Chiefs plenty of longevity in the years to come. There is no doubt that Mahomes’ new deal will mean that the Chiefs will have to make sacrifices in some areas, but they have proved to be adept at nurturing young talent in recent seasons. Furthermore, Mahomes’ versatile attributes should be able to plug gaps elsewhere on the field. It also must be noted that Mahomes is a generational talent, someone that will inspire others around him to greater heights, as well as lure in free agents who want to play with him, many of whom will be prepared to take salary cuts just to be part of the Chief’s success.
At the tender age — in NFL years — of twenty-four, Mahomes has ten to fifteen years remaining at the peak of his powers. It is easy to assume that this is only the beginning, and he could potentially single-handedly build a dynasty akin to the New England Patriots under former MVP quarterback Tom Brady.
