00:00The Chiefs announced earlier this morning that they've restructured Patrick Mahomes' deal.
00:05This is like an annual event.
00:06It gives him a boatload of money up front as a signing bonus.
00:10In this case, he got a $54 million signing bonus.
00:13They converted the money they owed him into a signing bonus,
00:15and they wind up saving $43 million against this year's salary cap,
00:20which is a significant amount of money.
00:23So Patrick Mahomes goes from a $78 million cap hit to a $34 million cap hit,
00:28gets a check today for $54 million,
00:33and now the Kansas City Chiefs can be players when it comes to free agency.
00:36They've already been rumored to be interested in a trade,
00:40Xavier Worthy for Marvin Harrison Jr.,
00:43but it tells me that if there's a top-notch offensive lineman out there,
00:48like the dude from Baltimore, what's his name, Lindenbaum?
00:51I think that's his name.
00:52Who's going to be one of the top, most sought-after offensive linemen out there,
00:56that now Kansas City is a player.
00:58Like, they opened up a significant amount.
01:01Just to give you a comparison's sake,
01:02the New York Jets, coming off your three-win season,
01:06have $87 million available for this year's cap,
01:10which is what you'd expect from a really bad team
01:12who got rid of two of its best defensive players in Sauce Gardner and Quinton Williams
01:17and don't have a lot of really high-paid guys on their roster.
01:21So it makes sense for the Jets to have that type of dough.
01:25Kansas City, while they didn't make the playoffs this year,
01:28still littered with really good players, especially on that defense, right?
01:32Yeah.
01:33So they just opened up $43 million to this year's cap.
01:38That is significant.
01:40And if you're a die-hard Chiefs fan, that's got to make you happy
01:44because now you can go after the best free agents out there for this year.
01:49Yeah, it's huge.
01:50And for comparison, Dallas Cowboys fans,
01:53the cap hit for your quarterback who's not as good,
01:55not a bad player, but not Mahomes,
01:58$74.9 million is his cap hit compared to a $30-some million cap hit.
02:02And by the way, the Dallas Cowboys would be foolish
02:05not to do the exact same thing with Dak Prescott's contract
02:09and give him a big check up front, lower the cap hit,
02:12so they can go out there and sign guys that complete their roster.
02:16I would agree with you, except Jerry Jones tends to not do this.
02:19They can use that money to get Pickens signed on the contract,
02:24but they have not yet done that.
02:25We'll see if they do.
02:26It's just called smart.
02:28It's smart money management.
02:30And that's why when you give a guy like Mahomes
02:32the type of contract they gave him, $450 million,
02:36the idea was always year after year
02:39because you can only do it once a year.
02:40So year after year, you go to Patrick,
02:44give him a huge check up front,
02:46lower the cap hit for this particular year,
02:49and go sign whatever your top free agent you covet.
02:52That is called smart football business.
02:56Now, it doesn't mean you get the right guy,
02:58but it means that there's not a single guy out there
03:02that if the Kansas City Chiefs covet, they can't get.
03:06Now, they might not be able to get three guys,
03:08but if there's a single guy out there that they want,
03:11Patrick Mahomes restructuring his contract.
03:14And by the way, don't applaud it.
03:16He's not a hero.
03:17He doesn't get a pat on the back.
03:19He got a check today for $54 million.
03:24Obviously, well-deserved, best player in the entire NFL
03:27when he's healthy.
03:28But it's just smart business.
03:30And I always wonder if you take a team like the Dallas Cowboys
03:33and there's other teams out there that have ridiculous,
03:36you know, kind of strangle hold on the cap
03:39because of one guy or two guys' deals,
03:42this is a no-brainer.
03:43Now, a lot of you are saying, well, wait a minute.
03:45You know, why don't you yell at the Miami Dolphins for doing that?
03:48Because Miami Dolphins don't have a quarterback
03:50that's as good as Patrick Mahomes.
03:52So sometimes, like the Denver Broncos did two years ago
03:56when they realized that Russell Wilson was not the guy,
04:00sometimes you got to eat it.
04:02And you got to eat it so that next year
04:05you can be a player in free agency.
04:07Patrick Mahomes ain't going anywhere.
04:09That's why restructuring his deal
04:11does not negatively impact their cap.
04:14It helps their cap out.
04:16The Denver Broncos had to eat,
04:18I think it was like almost $90 million.
04:20It was a record forever.
04:21Right, the Buffalo Bills,
04:23when they let Stephon Diggs walk out the door,
04:25had to eat just over $30 million against the cap.
04:29Why did the Bills not sign top-level free agents?
04:32Because they were bad at money management
04:34when it came to their bigger contracts.
04:36Like, this is not all that complicated.
04:39And yet, for some teams, it seems very complicated.
04:43Now, I'm not...
04:44The bad, almost always the bad ones.
04:46The ones that never win.
04:47Yeah, always the bad ones.
04:47Yep, the ones that don't win.
04:48And that's why GMs are so important.
04:49And that's why a guy like Harry Roseman of Philadelphia,
04:53while he's had his moments with the fan base, right?
04:55And he's got into some tiffs with the Eagle fan base
04:58over the years, now walks on water.
05:00Because he has found a way to keep that team
05:04in a cap-friendly spot,
05:05despite giving both wide receivers a gazillion dollars,
05:10their quarterback a quarter of a billion dollars,
05:13their offensive line a lot of money,
05:16their running back got a raise.
05:17Got a raise, yeah.
05:18Yeah, so there are some guys
05:20that are just really good at it.
05:21And unfortunately, most teams aren't.
05:24Yeah.
05:25So the Kansas City Chiefs,
05:26if you're a Chiefs fan,
05:28today's the day to celebrate.
05:29Oh, yeah.
05:29Because now you're back.
05:31Yeah.
05:31Now you're back alive in the free agency market.
05:34And I think it's a great, great, great decision
05:37for Kansas City.
05:38I think it's a great decision for Kansas City.
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