Moments after Patrick Mahomes beat the San Francisco 49ers in overtime of Super Bowl LVIII, he was already looking ahead to the next time he could hoist the Lombardi Trophy.
The Kansas City Chiefs’ superstar quarterback didn’t waver on that message in Wednesday’s championship parade through Kansas City — and even doubled down on it.
“I promise you next year, we’ll be at home and we’re going for that three-peat…don’t get it twisted. We’re doing it three times. First time NFL history. We doin’ it. Love y’all!”
This postseason marked the first time in Mahomes’ career that he had to go on the road — unless you count the one Super Bowl he did lose to Tom Brady’s Buccaneers in Tampa.
Perhaps the biggest news coming out of the Chiefs’ Super Bowl parade, though, is that superstar pass-rusher Chris Jones made it 100% clear that he intends to remain in Kansas City. A contract dispute this past offseason resulted in Jones taking a one-year deal, with the assumption that he might leave as a free agent in 2024.
Winning tends to cure all ills and ill feelings in the NFL. Jones seems determined to make it work to stay a Chief for the rest of his career if his parade speech is any indication.
“I need three of those rings, baby, we ain’t done yet! Kansas City, we will be back here next year. […] I ain’t goin’ nowhere, baby! WOOO! I will be here this year, next year, and the year after. Three-peat! Three-peat! Three-peat! …”
Incredible. Jones’ agent is in absolute hell right now by the way, LOL.
So I guess that unofficially takes the Chiefs down to five unrestricted free-agent defensive starters if Jones stays. It’ll be difficult for them to retain star cornerback L’Jarius Sneed with the amount of money they’ll have to fork over for Jones. On the other hand, according to Over The Cap, Mahomes’ mega contract can be restructured to free up about $35 million in extra cap space. Franchise-tagging Sneed and inking Jones to a back-loaded extension may be the way to go to keep those two key pieces in place.
If the Chiefs were to lose either Sneed or Jones, they might’ve been in for a significant step back next season. There’s a clearer path to retaining both of them than I anticipated. Oof. Hard to count out the Chiefs as a potential three-peat candidate. No one’s ever done it before, but who’s going to stop them at this point? The only silver lining for the rest of the AFC is that Jim Harbaugh is now coaching Justin Herbert in KC’s division.
Part of the reason Kansas City has been so successful is GM Brett Veach’s ability to crush the draft. While I’m sure other contenders will make improvements, it’s scary to think how much better the Chiefs could be with another weapon at wide receiver, another solid draft, the Year 2 improvement of WR1 Rashee Rice, and Jones and Sneed staying put on defense.
Then, you know, that Patrick Mahomes guy is pretty good, too.
