This is a Mahomes appreciation post from a business angle. The total number of contracts in the AFC West alone ranging from Russell Wilson, Davante Adams, Chandler Jones, Khalil Mack etc.. is $585-$600 million by itself and then the Bills with a $120 million Von Miller contract not to mention other key players and the obligatory Josh Allen franchise deal. Also, factor in the Dolphins committing $120 Million (vast majority of it guaranteed at 72.5 mil) + 5 draft picks for Tyreek Hill and that Patrick Mahomes Prevention Budget easily ranges to if not over a Billion Dollars. If the AFC goes through Arrowhead for the 5th straight year again and somehow we win a 2nd Super Bowl in 5 years in a supposed CHIEFS REBUILDING YEAR, that is going to be catastrophic for the AFC alone. Here's the thing, Patrick Mahomes wasn't suppose to make it work at this level with the 2nd/3rd best option receivers on other teams like Juju and MVS, this was suppose to be a "Mahomes scrapes by as a Wild-Card rebuild in the media hyped Chargers Golden Boy Herbert finally wins the AFC West and Russell Wilson and Raiders make it close season."

The most important aspect is that even though NFL contracts are NOT fully guaranteed and usually never are, players like Davante Adams, Tyreek Hill, Von Miller and Khalil Mack will receive the MAJORITY of their contracts as guaranteed money and probably more important than those guys filling out their teams budget cap... teams have sacrificed a lot of high-end (RDs 1-3) draft capital and subsequent "cheap money" for individual big names. Out of the Mahomes Prevention Budget, it can be said only two players have matched billing with stats+wins... with Von Miller and Tyreek Hill panning out, so far. That means out of close to a billion dollars contracted, the Dolphins/Bills still have $240 million split between Hill/Miller and $124.5 million guaranteed to both with lots of draft capital surrendered only to probably eventually make it in as Wild-Cards in a "predicted" Mahomes rebuilding year. With the vast majority of money, hundreds of millions dollars committed+draft capital for Khalil Mack, Davante Adams, Chandler Jones, Russell Wilson etc... it's been an abject resounding failure for the rest.

Sad to say, the AFC West all things being equal is over with the Chiefs essentially locking up their abused division rivals and the West Crown for the record setting you-name-it year in a row before any other team in the NFL would even think about divisional crowns. With the Chiefs receiving a small ransom for Tyreek Hill with 4 overall picks in the 1st 2 rounds of the Draft alone (their own and the Dolphins) with Trent McDuffie and George Karlaftis already solidifying what a great trade it was with those two alone for sure being future Pro-Bowlers, the AFC in general might only have this year realistically as a shot to dethrone Mahomes for a Superbowl appearance before the WR corps is actually revamped next year completely in the draft with Kadarius Toney alone being on a rookie contract, just 2 years into it. Not to mention all the polishing "Joka" will get as a receiver being in Reid/Mahomes' system. Next draft, the Chiefs have a bevy of options to complete the other receiving slots, whether it's a late first round pick deal or moving up and selecting the next 4.2/4/3 speed demon opposite of Kadarius Toney or maybe select Kelce's long-term replacement and/or another EDGE to start opposite George Karlaftis to replace the inconsistency of Frank Clark.

The main point, is that the AFC's main competition with the amount of draft capital they gave up and QB/WR contracts on the books or soon to be (i.e. Tua and Herbert), that truly points to a lot of pressure THIS YEAR for them; given, a soon-to-be completely revamped Chiefs roster injected with anywhere upwards to 4 bluechip youth prospects in the 1st/2nd rounds alone from WR/TE/EDGE/S or CB depth on "cheap" contracts for the next 4-5 years, that is ominous for the rest of the NFL. Not to mention with the excess future capital freed from Frank Clark's obvious impending departure, we can extend the 2nd best Defensive Tackle in football, generational talent Chris Jones (Aaron Donald is still that guy at 1) means the AFC is about to get a whole lot harder for the opposition. Given the talents that Nick Bolton, Willie Gay Jr, George Karlfatis, L'Jarius Sneed, Juan Thornhill and Trent McDuffie are and all build through the draft, means the days of facing Mahomes with bottom ranked defenses are closing fast if not this season or next year completely. Not to mention the days of the no-run game Chiefs are also closing fast (Isiah Pacheco). With the money saddled on the Bolts defense and the future contract of Herbert impending and the franchise ending decisions of the Broncos, the impending defensive contracts for the Bills, Chargers and Dolphins (not to mention Tua in 2 years).... good luck.... NOT. If anything, this teaches that Free Agency is still more Fool's Gold than the NFL Draft, the Broncos and Raiders alone are prime examples. Once in a blue moon, a team (Los Angeles Rams) can NBA SuperTeam their way to a championship but it appears that is not sustainable, and the Rams just might have baited our primary rivals into sinking their competitiveness for the next 5 years. Thank You!