Lombardi Trophy hoisted. Super Bowl parade completed.
Now, the Kansas City Chiefs turn to business.
The No. 1 priority this offseason is locking down Super Bowl MVP Patrick Mahomes to infinity and beyond -- or really, for the foreseeable future.
While Chiefs chairman Clark Hunt suggested K.C. could wait a year to do Mahomes' long-term deal, the most likely scenario is that the star QB has a whopper of a new contract before Kansas City kicks off the 2020 campaign.
So what might the timeline for getting that massive deal done look like?
NFL Network's Tom Pelissero reported that the most likely timetable for Mahomes' new deal is going to be sometime after the draft.
There is little question that Mahomes will leapfrog Russell Wilson as the highest-paid player in the NFL, surpassing the $35 million-per-year deal of the Seattle Seahawks QB. Most likely, he blasts past that like a Ferrari F40 blowing by a Jalopy 200.
There are several questions that the Chiefs and Mahomes must answer before a deal is consummated.
First and foremost, will a new Collective Bargaining Agreement come together soon? A new CBA could change the outlook for both sides, depending on how much of the pie the players get this time around. We shouldn't expect a Mahomes deal until that's either finalized or tabled.
The next question is how much of the cap space do both the Chiefs and their young QB want to take up with one player? K.C. still has to try to keep defensive tackle Chris Jones. The likes of Travis Kelce deserve a pay bump down the line. Mahomes knows he can't win alone, and at 24 years old he's going to net plenty of money in his career. It wouldn't be that much of a shock if he doesn't milk the max out of his enormous leverage. (That max, by the way, is all the money. All of it. The entire salary cap. Mahomes vs. Everybody.)
There are also several questions the Chiefs likely want to get out of the way before striking a deal with their best player. What is Sammy Watkins' future with the team? Can they keep key corners Bashaud Breeland and Kendall Fuller or replace them? Free agency will play a key role in the Chiefs' makeup for a repeat run.
Getting through the team-building process makes a post-draft timeline a likely starter when it comes to a new deal. We've seen many big QB contracts come down right before training camps kick off in July.
Whatever the timetable for Mahomes' new deal, he's worth every dang penny. Watch this NFL Films look at the pivotal play of Super Bowl LIV and tell me he's not:
