Patriots: 3 Advantages NE Still Has Over Chiefs After Patrick Mahomes Deal

1. Long-Term Cap Concerns

The Patriots will never be bogged down by long-term cap concerns.

There’s no reason to quibble with the extension of Patrick Mahomes — it obviously had to be done. He’s the singular player in the game you’d make that sacrifice for.

That being said, the Patriots are likely on the verge of living the exact luxury that KC profited off of these past few years: having a strong, young QB on a rookie deal, allowing New England to maximize the pieces around him.

At its maximum, Cam Newton’s deal will be worth $7.5 million, and if he lives up to even that modest level of billing, there’s a high probability he’ll be out of town the following year. At this point in his career, it seems Bill Belichick would like to do this all again one last time, setting New England up with their QB of the future and an otherwise well-stacked roster that will last them through the next four or five years.

With very few commitments on the books in 2021, New England’s cap space explodes to $75.3 million, per Spotrac. Kansas City’s? After having the least cap space…ever entering the 2020 Draft, they’re at $22.5 million next offseason, by design.

Sure, you’d love to have Patrick Mahomes. But the freedom to set up his final stage still belongs to Bill Belichick, and there’s plenty he can do with that level of cash flow.