AFC West Notes: Patrick Mahomes, Chiefs, Raiders

Patrick Mahomes

At the age of 24, Chiefs QB Patrick Mahomes became one of the youngest quarterbacks ever to win a Super Bowl. With the title coming just a year after Mahomes’ breakout 2018 MVP season, and with quarterbacks for traditional AFC powerhouses like New England and Pittsburgh in the twilight of their careers, it’s natural to ask if Mahomes and the Chiefs are the next NFL dynasty. 

“I believe in maximizing every single day. That’s the thing with me,” Mahomes said via Sam McDowell of the Kansas City Star. “Obviously I’ve had a good start to my career. I’ve been blessed to be in a great organization with a lot of great players around me that make my job easier. But I know it’s gonna take a long time of consistency if I wanna be where I wanna be in the end. I’m lucky enough that I have a lot of great people around me that I have a chance to go out there every single year and compete.”

Mahomes said he is hopeful to play his entire career in Kansas City. 

“The people are what really drew me to Kansas City, and I hope I get to play there the rest of my career,” Mahomes said, via ProFootballTalk.“The people and how they accept you, how they care about you more as a person than as a player, how much passion they have for the Kansas City Chiefs. It’s somewhere where I want to be for the rest of my career.”

Chiefs

• Chiefs HC Andy Reid said the presence of Mahomes has prevented him from seriously considering retiring anytime soon after winning his first Super Bowl at the age of 61: “I’ve got this young quarterback over here that makes life easy.” (Pro Football Talk)
• Chiefs DE Terrell Suggs joined Kansas City as a midseason waiver acquisition after initially making noise he would retire unless he landed back with the Ravens. He hasn’t decided if he’ll play another year yet: “I don’t know. Tomorrow will come, we ain’t gonna worry about it. . . . We ain’t gonna make no decisions tonight.” (Mike Cugno)

Raiders

• Field Yates notes that $2.9 million of Raiders QB Derek Carr’s $18.9M base salary for 2020 becomes fully guaranteed on Wednesday.
• If the report of the Raiders having interest in Tom Brady is accurate, Yates mentions Las Vegas could quickly clear $16M in cash by moving on from Carr that could be put towards a potential Brady deal.
• Vincent Bonsignore reports that Carr is proceeding with confidence he will be the team’s starting quarterback. However, Bonsignore’s sense is that the Raiders will explore all options at quarterback be it free agency or the draft.