SI: How the Chiefs Planned Very Early in Patrick Mahomes’s Career to Build Around Him

[G2]

Mahomes is elite. Cream of the crop without question IMO.

That being said, the Chiefs have done an outstanding job building around him and helping him. I don’t know why fans act like they don’t and he just does it all by himself.

He’s got a HOF TE, a bunch of 1st / 2nd round WRs, an OL that was top 5 in pass pro this year and a HOF head coach.

He’s the best, but he’s also been setup for success and is part of a great system.

Pretty solid Center.

 

[cnuball21]

Pretty solid Center.

Their entire OL is rock solid. They rebuilt it after it cost them a super bowl and fixed it in like 1 offseason.

Think we’d ever attack a weakness in 1 offseason like that? No.

 

[G2]

Their entire OL is rock solid. They rebuilt it after it cost them a super bowl and fixed it in like 1 offseason.

Think we’d ever attack a weakness in 1 offseason like that? No.

Nope. Been whining about DT for years.

 

[Proof]

They let Hill go, and added four guys (Juju Smith-Schuster, Marquez Valdez-Scantling, Kadarius Toney and Skyy Moore) to replace his production. That's good roster building. Hardly sitting back and twiddling their thumbs.

The reason why this article piqued my interest was the foresight that the Chiefs personnel department approached projecting Mahomes' contract and supporting cast ahead. Contrast that with Dallas, where they allowed Prescott's deal to go to the point where they had to pay top of the market, and proceeded to let their top receiver leave for a fifth round pick, and fail to adequately replace him or his production. The Cowboys don't do this correct because the two guys at the top of the pyramid have no football philosophy driving their decision making - they let emotion and marketing drive their decisions.

I re-read the article. I thought it stopped here (because of the oddly placed ad)

There’s a pressure of not wanting to let him down, or fail him,” Veach said Saturday, before traveling to Arizona for Super Bowl LVII. “He can play any type of football, so you feel like you have a little bit more of a window to work with, in regards to what you can bring in here. But at the same time, the expectations are so high, there’s the pressure of you can’t miss anything and you gotta do whatever you can. “And maybe you don’t have $30 million to throw at a wideout, but you better get good wideouts because you can’t provide him with nothing. So it’s a double-edged sword.” Six years after they first talked about it, it’s a sword the Chiefs have used to cut a path few in this era have—by setting themselves up for sustained success after giving a quarterback a top-of-the-market deal. And it’s put Mahomes in position to be more dangerous than he’s ever been before, as he prepares to go hunting for another ring. ADVERTISING It’s Super Bowl Week, and we’re on the ground in Arizona.

So I retract my previous comments. This IS a pretty interesting article, and they definitely seem to have a brilliantly forecasted and executed plan built around Mahomes. Sorry lol

 

[Longboysfan]

There are 2 ways to compete for super bowls in this league: HOF caliber QB or a QB on a rookie deal which allows you to load up on free agents. Nobody wins the way Jerry and son are building this team......... re-signing most of our own players and not looking around the league to upgrade positions while being saddled with a veteran QB contract. I think its safe to say that while the team's stated goal is the super bowl, they are unwilling to sacrifice or take too big of a chance to make it happen..... ironic that our owner is an oil wildcatter who bought this team with a bank loan.

They're thinking on team building should be altered to take into account the league has moved from balanced attack - to passing.
Need then is O line - very good QB - WR's.
RB is an after thought.

 

[mardwin]

The Cowboys roster would win the Super Bowl this year if Mahomes was their QB.

If the Chiefs and Cowboys swapped QBs, the Cowboys win vs the Chiefs.

The chief wouldn't make it out of their division with Dak at QB.

 

[Motorola]

Mahomes doesn't need much. Dude is next level. Kelce definitely helps don't get me wrong but Mahomes would do amazing with a bunch of Jags.

Outside of Kelce, Chris Jones, Frank Clark, and few others - A number of NFL followers (professionals in the business, sports media, fans) think the Chiefs are just above the label "a bunch of Jags".

 

[Hennessy_King]

The Cowboys roster would win the Super Bowl this year if Mahomes was their QB.

If the Chiefs and Cowboys swapped QBs, the Cowboys win vs the Chiefs.

Ugh hard to say what mahomes looks like without andy or bienemy

 

[Sarge]

The Cowboys roster would win the Super Bowl this year if Mahomes was their QB.

If the Chiefs and Cowboys swapped QBs, the Cowboys win vs the Chiefs.

We like our QB.

 

[cnuball21]

Ugh hard to say what mahomes looks like without andy or bienemy

And Kelce, and a rebuilt OL that is one of the leagues best, and a team that acquires WRs (JuJu, Toney) etc…

The Chiefs got an elite QB and at the same time said we’re gonna set this dude up for success and build around him.

He ain’t out there doing it alone.

 

[rambo2]

You think that the Jones Boys do this type of thinking when it comes to their players?

https://www.si.com/nfl/2023/02/06/chiefs-built-team-around-patrick-mahomes-very-early

It was July 2017, and, after the surprise summer firing of John Dorsey, new Chiefs GM Brett Veach was holding one of his first meetings, scrambling to adjust to the job after a wild month. This one was focused specifically on defining Kansas City’s principles.

What are our principles? What are we going to be doing for the next year? What are we mapping out in terms of long-term planning?

How are we going to do this?

Veach’s director of football administration, Brandt Tilis, raised his hand.

“Look, we just drafted a quarterback in the first round,” the lead negotiator said. “So we need to start thinking about his next contract—like right now—and start planning for him to be great.”

That quarterback was still 14 months from settling in as the Chiefs’ starter, with a redshirt year behind Alex Smith ahead, and the personnel department, rocked by the Dorsey news just a few weeks later, was still figuring out how to move forward. But even then, they had an idea of what the kid they drafted tenth could become. More than just that, they knew the challenges that lied ahead if he fulfilled all that promise.

In a way, the 2022 Chiefs came to life that day, in that room.

We all know now what Mahomes would become. He won the MVP in his first year as a starter, will likely win another one this week, has gotten to five AFC title games in the interim, and will play in his third Super Bowl and for his second Lombardi Trophy on Sunday. But even if the Chiefs thought all that was possible in 2017—and they were very high on their draft pick out of Texas Tech—they knew it couldn’t just be him.

And Tilis’s point to the room underscored that there would be a time that’d come when it’d be harder than making it about more than just him, because of the contract he’d sign if he lived up to his potential (like they hoped he would). So they started planning then for what they’d have in his rookie-deal years, and for the landscape thereafter—when the margins would be thinner, a time that’s now come for the best player in pro football.

“There’s a pressure of not wanting to let him down, or fail him,” Veach said Saturday, before traveling to Arizona for Super Bowl LVII. “He can play any type of football, so you feel like you have a little bit more of a window to work with, in regards to what you can bring in here. But at the same time, the expectations are so high, there’s the pressure of you can’t miss anything and you gotta do whatever you can.

“And maybe you don’t have $30 million to throw at a wideout, but you better get good wideouts because you can’t provide him with nothing. So it’s a double-edged sword.”

Six years after they first talked about it, it’s a sword the Chiefs have used to cut a path few in this era have—by setting themselves up for sustained success after giving a quarterback a top-of-the-market deal. And it’s put Mahomes in position to be more dangerous than he’s ever been before, as he prepares to go hunting for another ring.

It would be funny if they only won 1 Super Bowl with Mahomes.

 

[xwalker]

We like our QB.

I'm a fan of Dak but I think even the most ardent Dak supporters would acknowledge that he is not on the same tier as Mahomes.

 

[ShortRound]

We have a GM/Owner that says he would pay insane amounts of money for a SB if he could. But also says we won’t go all in because he has long term ideas. He’s got no plan.