Patrick Mahomes has interesting NIL take

NIL has changed a lot about college sports. But if it had been around earlier, would it have changed recent NFL history? According to Patrick Mahomes, it’s possible.

In a recent video shared by the NFL on X (formerly Twitter), Mahomes was asked what kind of NIL (Name, Image, Likeness) deal he would have had if it was around when he was in college?

Mahomes had an interesting response.

“It would have been a good amount of money. Especially for Lubbock, Texas. If I would have been able to get an NIL, I probably would have stayed for my senior year. And who knows what the rest of my NFL history would have been?”

While he was a talented quarterback at Texas Tech, Mahomes was anything but a sure thing entering the NFL when he was selected in 2017. Mahomes was selected 10th overall by the Kansas City Chiefs that year. With the benefit of hindsight, we can say that the selection of Mahomes has worked out remarkably well for all parties. Still, at the time, his selection was generally seen as a reach, particularly given that the Chiefs needed to trade up to draft him.

That said, Mahomes was always going to be a first-round selection. Knowing that, staying in college for an extra year would have been a significant dip financially.

As Dane Gebauer of College Transition reported in April , Colorado quarterback Shedeur Sanders has $4.7 million in NIL deals, the most of any college athlete. And while that’s certainly a lot of money, it’s significantly behind the deal that Mahomes signed with the Chiefs in 2017.

“Kansas City announced Thursday that Mahomes has signed his four-year rookie contract. As is the case with all first-round draft picks, the team will hold an option for a fifth year,” Chris Wesseling of NFL.com reported in 2017 . “It pays out $16.4 million fully guaranteed along with a $10.1 million signing bonus.”

So, while Mahomes might have stayed at Texas Tech for another year with NIL in place, it wouldn’t have been the best decision for him. We can say that definitively now but even without the benefit of hindsight, it’s hard to argue that it would have been the right move.

[NFL on X , CollegeTransition.com , NFL.com ]

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