NFL Rumors: Chiefs pivot to major Patrick Mahomes contract update this offseason

First, the Kansas City Chiefs have to focus on the Super Bowl. Then, win or lose, attention will turn towards Patrick Mahomes' contract.

The start quarterback is already on a team-friendly deal that will keep him in Kansas City at least through 2031. However, he's got a massive cap hit looming for 2024. The Chiefs have to address that this offseason.

Mahomes is currently on track to have a cap hit of more than $57 million, a number that will go up by $1.25 million if he wins the Super Bowl, per Jonathan Jones of CBS Sports.

The plan is to restructure Mahomes' deal, opening up a huge chunk of cap space that would help the Chiefs re-sign high-value free agents like L'Jarius Sneed or Chris Jones.

Chiefs looking to cut down Patrick Mahomes' cap hit by more than half

According to Jones, "a simple contract restructure would save the team roughly $37 million in cap space, and Mahomes would have a cap hit in 2024 in the low 20s."

Mahomes has the most valuable contract in the NFL, but he's far from the highest-paid player in terms of yearly averages. Joe Burrow is making $55 million per year while Mahomes is at $45 million. That's the cost of taking a 10-year deal over a more hefty five-year contract like most other quarterbacks out there.

The plus side has been more money for Kansas City to invest in their roster, building a team around Mahomes that's been capable of going to three Super Bowls in the four seasons since he signed that deal.

But the cap hit for 2024 would be sizable compared to the 2023 number of $37.1 million, which was already tops in the league. The Chiefs wouldn't be able to keep their most important free agents or commit significant money to signing free agents to fill the gaps in the squad.

So obviously it's a priority.

Deshaun Watson is currently slated to carry the biggest cap hit in 2024 at $63.9 million. Dak Prescott, Kyler Murray, Mathew Stafford, Daniel Jones, Josh Allen, Derek Carr, Russell Wilson, Lamar Jackson, Jared Goff and Geno Smith are all scheduled to have cap hits above $30 million. Restructuring could obviously change all those numbers, but suffice it to say most contenders have a significant hit via their quarterback spot.

Getting Mahomes down to a figure in the low $20 million range would give the Chiefs a massive leg up in free agency.