“The Chiefs Can Save $11 Million From Cutting Patrick Mahomes in 2026”: Injury Analyst Faces Flak for ‘Terrible Comparison’

Sometimes, it’s better to spend money than to save it. For the sake of example, look at the Kansas City Chiefs’ historic contract with Patrick Mahomes. In 2020, the franchise signed the star signal caller to an unprecedented 10-year, $503-million contract extension.

With $477 million in guarantees, the deal was celebrated for being the single largest in sports history, with some even voicing concerns that the exorbitant payday would come with a great amount of long-term risk for the franchise.

Fast forward to the Summer of 2025, and it appears as if the money was well spent. The Chiefs have two more Lombardi Trophies, and Mahomes has just the 14th-highest salary of any quarterback in the league.

Nevertheless, the large figures involved in the deal itself have resulted in fans and pundits alike using it as a reference point for what tend to be rather hyperbolic comparisons. Such is the case with Jeff Mueller’s most recent post on X.

In response to a fantasy football page noting that the Indianapolis Colts could save more than $13 million by cutting their star offensive player, Jonathan Taylor, the NFL injury analyst made a similar tweet using Mahomes’ deal with the Chiefs in an attempt to highlight the absurdity of suggesting that the Colts should cut Taylor.

Unfortunately, commentators weren’t onboard with his comparison. Given the amount of injury concerns surrounding Taylor specifically, in addition to the presumed volatility of the running back position, many believe that the conversation is worth having.

In light of the proverbial notion that running backs begin to fall off around the age 27, some believe that an early dip in production could very well be in the cards for a running back that has as much perceived wear and tear as Taylor.

Others simply chose to take the post at face value, and could not believe what they were reading.

While the comparison itself is certainly a bit extravagant, at least a few were willing to acknowledge and accept the ultimate point that Mueller was trying to make.

As far Mahomes and the Chiefs are concerned, the NFL’s premiere passer is doing everything in his power to make the finer points of the deal work in favor of the franchise. Restructures have become a routine for the two parties, and it will likely remain that way for the foreseeable future.

Considering that the Chiefs are coming off of what was nearly the most lopsided loss in Super Bowl history, it should come as no surprise to see similar deals being made in the future. Nevertheless, if Kansas City wants to avenge their historic loss to the Philadelphia Eagles, they’ll need every spare dollar that they can find.

Thankfully, they’ll clearly have no issue spending it when the time comes. Both Mahomes and the Chiefs have shown a willingness to fudge the numbers in order to make the necessary happen.

So long as the finances are covered on the backend, it’s likely that neither one of them has a problem with this.