Stunning Contract Commonality Could Preview Chiefs-Seahawks SB

Not-so-obvious restructures

His not-so-obvious humility with regard to what the Chiefs will accomplish over the rest of his career has involved a few monumental keystrokes and emails from assistant general manager Chris Shea.

Other teams and quarterbacks are noticing – and following Mahomes’ example to produce favorable fruits. The Seattle Seahawks are the latest example. NFL Network analyst Isaac Rochell has noticed, too, pointing out that Darnold’s $37.9 million cap number in 2026 accounts for only 12.5 percent of the Super Bowl champion’s total cap.

Rochell, a former AFC West defensive end selected in the same 2017 class as Mahomes, said other top-paid quarterbacks are commanding more than 20 percent of their teams’ cap. And for both Seattle and Kansas City, that low percentage could be key to a potential Super Bowl 61 matchup.

Kansas City needs the Mahomes flexibility to break out of cap purgatory and obtain at least one important free agent on March 9. Seattle has several key pillars looking for their second NFL contracts this offseason.

“So, what do they need to do?” Rochell asked of Seattle on Tuesday’s edition of Good Morning Football. “They need to pay the guys on their defense that need to come back, because they're huge pieces. The defense will continue to play well if they have the guys on the roster. And guess what? Your quarterback? … It's a contract that's fair to the team, right?

“The team's got a good opportunity, because we've seen it a million times in the NFL. You guys have seen it. This quarterback gets a huge contract, and the salary cap becomes unbalanced, and then all of a sudden you can't pay the other guys.”

An important common thread

Darnold and Mahomes are the only NFL quarterbacks with such a low percentage, per Rochell. baked in significant salary-cap flexibility when they poached Sam Darnold from the Vikings a year ago.

Mahomes’ contract, signed in 2020, was a reported 10 years and $450 million – with obvious flexibility.

In fact, Mahomes doesn’t even account for the No. 1 slot on the Chiefs’ cap as of Tuesday morning. The quarterback’s cap number, according to Over the Cap, is $34.65 million. That’s just over 11.3 percent of the total cap, assuming the final number is around $305 million.

Chris Jones actually owns the top line on the Chiefs’ cap, with a $44.85 million cap number accounting for 14.7 percent as of Tuesday. The All-Pro defensive tackle is expected to follow Mahomes’ lead and restructure his contract in coming days.