Arrowheadlines: Patrick Mahomes now the world’s 18th highest-paid athlete

The latest

Off-field earnings push Patrick Mahomes into top 20 of world’s highest-paid athletes | The Star

The San Francisco 49ers last week gave quarterback Brock Purdy a huge five-year contract extension worth $265 million, and many people were talking about …. the Chiefs’ Patrick Mahomes.

Yep, Over The Cap said Mahomes has the 14th-highest average salary per year among NFL quarterbacks.

The good news for Mahomes is he is still being paid handsomely by the Chiefs, and he’s also making a lot of money away from the field. Those endorsement deals are a big reason why Mahomes is ranked as the 18th highest-paid athlete in the world by Forbes.

Predicting the Best Rookie on Every Team in 2025 | Sports Illustrated

Kansas City Chiefs: Omarr Norman-Lott, DT

It’ll be interesting to see how the Chiefs’ left tackle situation unfolds, as first-round pick Josh Simmons, who’s still rehabbing from a torn patellar tendon sustained in October, competes with free agent signing Jaylon Moore for the starting job. Norman-Lott faces no such questions. The Tennessee product is a potent interior pass rusher. With Chris Jones commanding extra attention next to him, Norman-Lott will have plenty of advantageous opportunities to disrupt opposing quarterbacks.

Chiefs rookie LB Jeffrey Bassa describes collegiate position change | Chiefs Wire

A highly viewed four-star recruit in the class of 2021, Bassa took a unique path to finding his current role. He entered college primarily playing safety before kicking down to linebacker to cover for injured teammates. Bassa never returned to safety, but he retained most of the athletic traits that made him a coveted defensive back.

While at the Senior Bowl earlier this year, Bassa detailed his experience transitioning from safety to off-ball linebacker.

“It was great. You’re so used to guarding receivers all the time … You get transitioned into the box, and you’re dealing with linemen all the time. You’re dealing with vision of the quarterback, dealing with the linemen and assigning everybody to make sure they’re alright,” said Bassa. “I thought it was a quick and easy transition for me because I always wanted to have that vocal voice and for people to depend on me to get them aligned right. [I can] also do things that a DB can do and stop the run as well.”

Top extension candidate for every NFL team | CBS Sports

Kansas City Chiefs: QB Patrick Mahomes

Back in 2020, Mahomes and the Chiefs agreed to a 10-year, $447 million contract that could be worth up to $503 million. While that deal — which has Mahomes connected to Kansas City through the 2031 season — has been tweaked in recent years to give the Chiefs some cap flexibility, the quarterback market has changed rather dramatically. That could mean that they take a harder look at this deal to bring Mahomes up to a respective level. At the moment, Mahomes is making $45 million per season, which has him tied with Kirk Cousins (currently a backup) as the 14th highest-paid quarterback in the league. With Josh Allen recently reworking his deal to get him to $55 million per season, it wouldn’t be surprising to see Mahomes and the Chiefs follow suit.

Chiefs have kept C.J. Hanson on ice for a year and there’s a reason for it | Arrowhead Addict

It’s be easy to forget what made the Chiefs look Hanson’s way in the first place, which is understandable, but it all starts with that RAS—his Relative Athetic Score—a metric designed by Kent Lee Platte that takes into account a player’s height, weight, bench press, leaping drills, speed drills, and more. The result is a number measured up to 10.0.

Back to Hanson. Platte’s RAS for Hanson measured out to 9.84, which is basically otherworldly for an offensive lineman. Per Platte, it ranks at No. 26 overall among a group of 1,582 linemen from the mid-’80s to 2024. Yeah, that’s impressive.

Of course, NFL Draft history is littered with busts who were excellent at the Combine or at their respective Pro Days yet never turned in anything meaningful on the field. That said, Hanson is made of the sort of uber-athletic clay that coaches look forward to molding.

Beyond the raw athleticism, Hanson also entered the draft with an impressive amount of experience and reliability. While at Holy Cross, he’d started 38 games at right guard over three seasons and was named First-Team All-Patriot League in his final two seasons as a Crusader. He was also a team captain, and that leadership speaks volumes about the kind of person he will be for the Chiefs.

Around the NFL

The NFL and College Football Fight for the Calendar Is Brewing | Sports Illustrated

The NFL’s actions also speak loudly on Saturday when the Sports Broadcasting Act of 1961 allows the league to start airing games on college football’s typical place in the week starting after the second weekend of December. While in the past this hasn’t been a big deal, it is nowadays with a 12-game college football slate during the regular season with a conference championship weekend tacked on and an expanded playoff that now has four rounds worth of action.

When the CFP initially put out dates for its inaugural 12-team tournament, there was hope among some in college football circles that the NFL would opt to avoid going head-to-head with the three first-round games on Dec. 20, 2024. The league instead scheduled two marquee games—featuring the Kansas City Chiefs against the Houston Texans plus the Baltimore Ravens and the Pittsburgh Steelers—and put both on over-the-air networks to help bolster their reach even further.

Projecting performances of quarterbacks who changed teams in offseason | NFL.com

Geno Smith – Las Vegas Raiders
2025 numbers will be: BETTER

With the Seahawks electing to get younger and — slightly — cheaper at quarterback, Smith reunites with Pete Carroll, under whom he earned the only two Pro Bowl nods of his career.

Smith didn’t get enough credit for keeping the Seahawks offense afloat behind a porous offensive line. The interceptions, particularly in the red zone, were rough, but most quarterbacks become ineffective when battered as much as Smith was last year.

When stating that I expect better numbers from Smith, I don’t think he’ll pass for another career high in yardage, as I’m anticipating the Raiders to be more balanced. However, I do expect Smith’s efficiency numbers to improve. His -.02 EPA per dropback should improve while he cuts down on the backbreaking INTs. And the 53.8 QBR from 2024 should get back into the 60s, where it was when he was with Carroll.

I am interested in the fit with Raiders offensive coordinator Chip Kelly. A once-ballyhooed coach when he entered the NFL in 2013, Kelly created nary a buzz after returning to the pro game. Whereas once there were debates about Kelly and his style, now it’s mostly a shrug. How will his system mesh with Smith’s ability to assess at the line of scrimmage and make pre-snap reads?

The weaponry surrounding Smith is a fascinating collection. Tight end Brock Bowers is a No. 1 target. First-round running back Ashton Jeanty should make his life easier. The WR crew has some questions, but Jakobi Meyers is underrated and second-round pick Jack Bech brings a physical style. If Smith is protected better than he was last year, he can dramatically improve a Raiders offense that has been stuck in the mud for the past two years.

Aaron Rodgers drops massive hint he will sign with Pittsburgh Steelers | Penn Live

Free agent quarterback Aaron Rodgers dropped the latest hint that he will sign with the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Rodgers traveled to Austin, Texas, over the weekend to join his friend and artist, Mike Stud, also known as mike. During the event, Rodgers held a Q&A with the crowd.

At one point, a girl asks him if he would ever play for the Chicago Bears, and Rodgers’ answer is another hint that he will eventually suit up for the Steelers.

“No,” Rodgers answered the question. “But I believe there is a team that might play in Chicago this year, a road trip to Chicago. I love Chicago, though, way more than they love me. It’s been a great relationship all one way.”

In case you missed it on Arrowhead Pride

Bill Barnwell isn’t sold on the Chiefs’ changes to the offensive line

It’s true: Jalon Moore has only a small number of NFL starts — fewer than Orlando Brown Jr. when he came to Kansas City. But Brown had roughly the same number as Moore at the position he would play. And the Chiefs should be more comfortable with the former San Francisco 49ers’ tackle adjusting to the system than fans ever were with Brown.

And, it’s true: Josh Simmons might not be ready to play until 2026. If that’s how it plays out (and as long as Moore is an effective stopgap), the $21.2 million the Chiefs have promised him will be a bargain. It will be a lot if he ends up being a swing tackle, but considering that the team has lost two league championship games largely because of issues on the offensive line, is that something fans should worry about?

That brings us to Kingsley Suamataia. It’s reasonable to be concerned about his ability to play as an NFL guard; he didn’t inspire much confidence playing outside during his rookie season. Yet every year, we see college tackles with no NFL experience successfully transition to guard. Isn’t it possible that Suamataia could make the adjustments that many other players have made in his second year? And if he can’t, the Chiefs have other players who can step in.

Barnwell is right: there are reasons to be worried about Kansas City’s offensive line. But it’s not like the Chiefs haven’t been here before.