Deshaun Watson’s fully-guaranteed contract with the Cleveland Browns in 2022 threw a wrench into the NFL’s quarterback market, a wrench that Kansas City Chiefs GM Brett Veach is now monitoring very closely.
While the Chiefs are one of the lucky to teams to have their star quarterback locked up long-term, many teams are now coming to grips with the reality of having to pay their star quarterbacks a deal rife with guaranteed dollars. AFC teams like the Baltimore Ravens, Los Angeles Chargers and Cincinnati Bengals are on deck, with big contracts on the way for their franchise signal-callers.
Asked about how Watson’s deal and other upcoming contracts might impact things with Patrick Mahomes’ contract, Chiefs GM Brett Veach played it coy.
“I don’t know,” Veach said. “I mean, it’s a fair question, it’s a good question. On one end, we have Pat’s deal done. On the other end, we’ll certainly have to monitor the rest of these deals. We have a lot of years with Pat’s contract and that’s something we’ll have to readjust as time goes on. We’ll just see. I mean all these teams are structurally different, how (the teams) handle contracts are different. The cash flows are different. So, it’ll be an interesting timeframe. We had to go through that hurdle there, now Cincinnati and (Los Angeles) and these teams have to go through that there.”
Veach knows that one day in the future, the team will have to broach the subject of adjusting Mahomes’ deal to pay him commensurate with where the market is heading. That could mean an extension or reworked deal down the line that includes more guaranteed money.
For now, Veach knows they’ve got their star quarterback under contract and that’s what matters most. He doesn’t seem to be in a hurry to get some sort of new deal in place soon, but he is interested to see what transpires with the rest of these NFL teams with some new quarterback contracts on the way.
“I’m kind of like you,” Veach said. “I’m anxious to see how they work through their deals and we’ll be taking a look at every aspect of how they do that.”
