Patrick Mahomes, a 24-year-old quarterback who led the Kansas City Chiefs to a Super Bowl win on Feb. 2, 2020, was rewarded with a 10-year contract extension that ESPN’s NFL insider Adam Schefter says is the biggest in U.S. sports history.
According to Schefter, Mahomes was owed $27.6 million over two years on his existing deal, and the extension is worth at least $400 million. Until now, the largest U.S. sports contract belonged to baseball player Mike Trout, at $426.5 million.
On Feb. 2, 2020, Mahomes was the youngest quarterback to ever be named a Super Bowl MVP, and he was named the NFL’s MVP for the 2018 season.
Here are the five highest paid players in the NFL for the 2020 season, according to Spotrac; this list doesn’t include Mahomes’s recently announced contract extension:
- 1. Dak Prescott $31,409,000
- 2. Russell Wilson: $31,000,000
- 3. Jared Goff: $28,842,682
- 4. Khalil Mack: $26,600,000
- 4. Jimmy Garoppolo: $26,600,000
All are quarterbacks except for Mack, who is an outside linebacker.
Mahomes has also been using his fame to promote social causes he finds important. In June 2020 he helped lead a voter-registration drive ahead of the November election.
Also see:‘I thought they were scamming me’: Kansas City Chiefs superfan gets the surprise of a lifetime
And he was one of a dozen NFL stars to make a video demanding the NFL condemn racism and ‘admit wrong in silencing players from peacefully protesting.’
The video came after a white police officer was caught on video killing a Black man named George Floyd.
“I believe in both my statement and the video we made. That stuff needed to be said,” explained Mahomes, who comes from a mixed-race family with a black father and white mother, giving him a unique perspective on the issue. “We need to come together and show that black lives do matter. It’s great to feel the support we got from the Chiefs, from Coach Reid, and I’ve talked to (NFL commissioner) Roger Goodell and he’s shown his support for us.”
Mahomes said he discussed the social unrest with his father, former major league pitcher Pat Mahomes, and his godfather, former reliever LaTroy Hawkins. He also spoke with a number of current and former NFL players.
