The Kansas City Chiefs surprised the NFL world a couple of weeks ago by renegotiating quarterback Patrick Mahomes' contract. The presumption was there wouldn't be a renegotiation this year after the Chiefs freed up $43.56 million of 2026 salary cap space in February when $54.45 million of Mahomes' $56.75 million in 2026 compensation was converted into signing bonus. Typically, if a team does a contract restructure creating significant cap room, a new deal isn't done until the following offseason at the earliest.
The Chiefs reworked Mahomes' contract by adding two new years worth $239.05 million to put him under contract through 2033. The total value for the eight years is $504.75 million for an average of $63,093,750 per year, making Mahomes the NFL's highest-paid player. The deal is worth as much as $522.25 million thanks to base salary escalators and incentives.
There are $237 million in conventional guarantees, which is the cash in the first four contract years running through 2029, in the deal. Out of this $237 million, $150 million is fully guaranteed at signing. The $150 million fully guaranteed is the second most ever in an NFL contract.
The remaining $267.75 million in the 2030 through 2033 contract years, which is completely unsecured at signing, can become fully guaranteed at different points throughout the life of the contract. For example, the $30 million May 5 roster bonuses in the 2030, 2031 and 2032 contract years become fully guaranteed more than a year early before being due (i.e.; 2030 roster bonus is fully guaranteed on the third day of the 2029 league year). The base salaries in these contract years don't become fully guaranteed until March of that particular year (i.e.; $32.75 million 2030 base salary is fully guaranteed on the third day of the 2030 league year).
Mahomes isn't getting any new money in 2026. The $56.75 million Mahomes was making prior to the renegotiation is unchanged. He only gets a $5.1 million raise in 2027. Mahomes was making $109.65 million through 2027 before the renegotiation. He has $114.75 million through 2027 under the new deal. There is $38.5 million of new money through 2028.
Mahomes' new deal puts the quarterback market spotlight back on Lamar Jackson's contract situation. Baltimore Ravens owner Steve Bisciotti didn't get his wish of a Jackson contract extension by the start of the 2026 league year on March 11. General manager Eric DeCosta had publicly expressed optimism about a new deal during his NFL combine press conference in late February.
The Ravens resorted to the backup plan when a new deal wasn't done. Jackson's contract was restructured similarly to Mahomes' where $49.95 million of his $51.25 million 2026 base salary was converted into signing bonus to create $39.96 million of 2026 cap room. A dummy/voiding 2030 contract year was added in the process for bonus proration purposes. The contract restructure raised Jackson's 2027 cap number to an untenable $84.34 million, which is the final year of the five-year, $260 million deal he signed in 2023, making him at the time the league's highest-paid player at $52 million per year.
The Ravens are reportedly still interested in extending Jackson's contract this year. Jackson, who represents himself and has never had an agent, continued his practice of keeping his contract matters private when speaking to reporters in late May. He did share that he isn't seeking a fully guaranteed contract like he did during negotiations in 2022.
Jackson also expressed an affinity for the Ravens organization and the city of Baltimore. "Absolutely. I love the Ravens. I love this organization. I love this city," Jackson said. "This is the team that drafted me. I love Baltimore. Everybody should know that by now."
Jackson has been a "model citizen" since Jesse Minter replaced John Harbaugh as head coach and Declan Doyle was named the new offensive coordinator early in the offseason. "There's nobody I'd rather have as the quarterback of this team, this franchise," Minter said. "The way that [Jackson] operates, how infectious he is, how much joy he brings to the preparation and the practice field -- yes, he's been everything." For the first time since signing his contract in 2023, Jackson participated in enough of the offseason workout program to earn a $750,000 workout bonus that's in each of the final four years of his contract.
The optimal time for the Ravens to try to get something done with Jackson is before Ravens veteran players report to training camp on July 28. Since Jackson represents himself, it's hard to imagine that he will want to deal with a contract negotiation during training camp while trying to master a new offense system or once the regular season starts.
Jackson has two years worth $104 million remaining on his contract. His salary in both 2026 and 2027 is $52 million. Jackson's contract has a no-trade clause. There's also a provision preventing the Ravens from designating Jackson as a franchise or transition player when his contract expires following the 2027 season.
Jackson holds most of the cards in any contract negotiations. It doesn't matter that Jackson had an injury-plagued and subpar 2025 season by his standards. After a fast start, the two-time NFL MVP was slowed by injuries (hamstring, ankle, toe, knee and back). Jackson missed four games because of the hamstring and back ailments. The injuries limited Jackson's mobility. He rarely played at an MVP level after the hamstring injury in Week 4 until the fourth quarter against the Pittsburgh Steelers in the regular-season finale. The Ravens, who were favorites to win Super Bowl LX before the 2025 season started, missed the playoffs with an 8-9 record.
Mahomes just changed the NFL salary landscape following a worse 2025 season than Jackson had. He had career lows with a 62.7% completion percentage and 89.6 passer rating, which ranked 23rd in the NFL. The Chiefs had a losing record at 6-11 for the first time since 2012.
Mahomes tore the ACL and LCL in his left knee late in the fourth quarter of Week 15's contest against the Los Angeles Chargers last season. He plans on being ready for the start of the 2026 regular season.
Mahomes hasn't earned All-Pro honors since 2022 when he was named NFL MVP for the second time in his career. Nonetheless, Mahomes has been widely considered to be the gold standard for quarterbacks because he has three Super Bowl rings and has been named Super Bowl MVP three times.
Any new deal Jackson signs should make him the league's highest-paid player provided he is willing to exploit the contract leverage that exists because of his tremendous ability, those clauses in his contract and the exorbitant 2027 cap number. One benchmark Jackson could focus on is exceeding Mahomes' league-leading total $366.75 million in total cash after six years, which runs through the 2031 season. When Jackson reset the NFL pay scale in 2023, his $52 million per year was 1.96% more than Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts' $51 million per year.
A comparable increase over Mahomes' $366.75 million would be $374 million. This would be a four-year, $270 million contract extension, averaging $67.5 million per year after subtracting out Jackson's two remaining contract years worth $104 million.
A structure like Mahomes' where his salary stays the same this year and has just a small raise over the remaining two years of his contract should be a non-starter for Jackson. Increasing Mahomes' 2026 compensation wasn't practical considering the Chiefs currently have a little more than $4.5 million in 2026 cap space, according to NFLPA data under offseason accounting rules where only the top 51 salaries matter.
The Ravens are in a much better position for Jackson to get a raise in 2026 with just over $17.5 million in cap space. Jackson's new signing bonus wouldn't close come to the $72.5 million he received in 2023, which was an NFL record, given Baltimore's salary cap situation, unless the Ravens would be willing to restructure existing contracts for additional 2026 cap space. The smaller the signing bonus, the more of a necessity for Jackson to beat the NFL-record $250 million of overall guarantees Josh Allen received from the Buffalo Bills in March 2025 when he signed a six-year, $330 million contract, averaging $55 million per year.
The Ravens created a roadmap for Jackson's yearly cash flow last year with the four-year extension Kyle Hamilton signed with two years left on his rookie contract that dramatically reset the safety market. Hamilton's deal is player-friendly. He has 43.33%, 60.26% and 79.08% of his new money, respectively, in his first new contract year (2027), his second new contract year (2028) and his third new contract year (2029). In a neutral deal which isn't front-loaded or back-loaded, there would be 25%, 50% and 75% of the new money, respectively, after these junctures.
Presumably, the cash in Jackson's first two years (2026 and 2027) would be fully guaranteed under the Hamilton model. This should be more than Mahomes' $150 million.
The overall guarantees would be the money in the first four contract years (2026 through 2029). This could be upwards to $267.5 million. Having $163.5 million of new money through Jackson's first two new contract years running through 2029 would be 60.55% of the new money in a $67.5 million per year extension where there's $270 million in total new money.
Jackson's best deal will likely come from being patient by playing 2026 under his existing contract. Just imagine the type of negotiating leverage Jackson would have in 2027 by having a bounce-back 2026 season. The Ravens would be fortunate to sign Jackson for less than $70 million per year.
The quarterback market could dramatically escalate in 2027, as 2024 draft picks, Jayden Daniels, Drake Maye and Caleb Williams will be eligible for contract extensions. At least one of the three should reset the quarterback market.
Jackson could let the market further develop with these quarterbacks before doing a new deal. By Jackson returning to some semblance of his previous form in 2026, he would practically be able to name his own price in a 2027 contract extension since the Ravens would be powerless to prevent him from leaving in 2028 free agency if his contract expired.
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