Patrick Mahomes’ hunger for titles — even at his own expense — is Chiefs’ biggest edge

What’s truly scary about Patrick Mahomes usually involves what he does, not what he says.

The “nasty” side of Kansas City‘s two-time Super Bowl-winning quarterback lies in how he inflicts pain within the white lines, delivering punishment by a thousand cuts (or throws, or runs), while defenses and fan bases live in perpetual fear that the next soul-crushing play might be just a moment of inspiration away.

Mahomes doesn’t snarl or growl a whole lot. His voice is measured not gruff. His interview answers are mostly designed to educate rather than intimidate. All in all, he seems like a nice guy.

This week, however, Mahomes issued a series of comments that should strike terror into the hearts of every opposing team with designs on its own Super Bowls in the years ahead.

“I worry about legacy and winning rings more than making money at this moment,” Mahomes told reporters. “We see what’s going on around the league. But at the same time, I will never do anything that’s going to hurt us from keeping the great players around me.”

Corporate speak? Saying the right thing for purpose of popularity or morale? Not so much. Mahomes, who has very quickly gone from being a record-setter in terms of contractual worth to little more than a standard earner per annual salary, basically just said that while he’s not blind to the reality of soaring QB remuneration, he’s not looking to squeeze every single dollar out of the Chiefs.

And that — in these days when salary-cap management is the trickiest and most mathematically nerve-jangling facilitator of (or impediment to) success — could turn into the biggest advantage in the sport.

Given that Mahomes is still just 27, that the Chiefs have already won a pair of Super Bowls, and their most abject “failures” have been two defeats in the AFC Championship Game? Yeah, that’s scary.

Just think about how fervently franchises chase promising rookie QBs, on the assumption that having a passably good thrower on an inexpensive contract and surrounding him with quality pieces is an ideal way to open a “championship window.”

Pertinently for Mahomes, left tackle Orlando Brown Jr. departed for Cincinnati after the Chiefs elected to move on from him. Before last season, Tyreek Hill headed for Miami, despite his connection with Mahomes.

While Mahomes’ contract allows general manager Brett Veach some flexibility, it still doesn’t mean he can keep everyone, or keep everyone happy.

Maybe the situation changes eventually. Maybe QB money will get so out of control that there comes a time when Mahomes gets sick of being a middle-market earner, which is the direction things are heading in.

Or maybe the legacy piece will be the enduring driver of his motivation. Remember this: even by having two Super Bowl titles he is in rare quarterbacking air. One more ring would put him level with Troy Aikman in fourth place on the all-time list and within striking distance of Terry Bradshaw and Joe Montana.

That’s surely a tantalizing thought for him, and for a Chiefs franchise that hadn’t won a Super Bowl in half a century until he came along. And, for everyone else, a grim prospect indeed.

Martin Rogers is a columnist for FOX Sports and the author of the FOX Sports Insider newsletter. Follow him on Twitter @MRogersFOX and subscribe to the daily newsletter.

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