Patrick Mahomes went from a 22-year-old rookie behind Alex Smith in 2017 to a three-time Super Bowl champion signed through 2033. (Getty Images)
Patrick Mahomes was a 22-year-old rookie sitting behind Alex Smith when the Kansas City Chiefs wrapped up the 2017 season. Nine years later, he is 31, owns three Super Bowl rings and has returned from a torn ACL and LCL. The Chiefs are 4-0 with him under center, and a contract through 2033 ties him to Kansas City. The Chiefs moved from the 27th pick to the 10th in 2017, sending Buffalo a third-round pick and their 2018 first-rounder along with it. Alex Smith, weeks from turning 33, was the starter. In the 2017 finale against Denver, he completed 22 of 35 passes for 284 yards with one interception in a 27-24 win. In 2018 he threw for 5,097 yards and 50 touchdowns with only 12 interceptions. The knee gave out on December 14, 2025, in a 16-13 loss to the Chargers. Kansas City finished 6-11, which meant a first missed postseason and a first losing season for Mahomes as a starter. Before the injury he had thrown for 3,587 yards with 22 touchdowns and 11 interceptions over 14 games. Most players need six to 12 months to return. Mahomes was back for the opener on September 14, exactly nine months after the injury, though the start was shaky. He finished 15 of 27 for 184 yards, two touchdowns and an interception, but he went 11 of 13 once he settled in, and the Chiefs won 31-10. Since then, Kansas City beat the Colts 33-30 in overtime, beat Miami 24-10 and edged the Raiders 30-27. His 60-yard touchdown in the opener came in the best rushing game by a Chiefs running back in 14 years, and a steady ground game takes weight off Mahomes’ arm and knee. Brady tore the ACL and MCL in the 2008 opener and went on to win four more titles. Brady’s next ring came in the 2014 season, six years after the surgery, and his last arrived when he was 43. Mahomes is 31 now. The scrambler of 2018 will slow down like every quarterback does, so the real test is whether he can win more with his reads than with his legs. Joe Burrow tore his ACL and MCL in November 2020 and was back the next season, when he won Comeback Player of the Year. Daniel Jones tore his ACL in November 2023 and started Week 1 the following year. His June extension runs through 2033, when he would be 38. The new money kicks in during 2027 at roughly $64 million a year, the richest average salary in the NFL, and he earns $56.8 million this season. Counting 2026, that is eight seasons of Chiefs football. Mahomes is in his ninth year as the starter, and he won three titles in the first eight, about one every 2.7 years. The Chiefs went 10-0 in one-score games in 2024 and 1-9 in 2025. Rashee Rice caught a 13-yard touchdown before halftime in the opener, and Tyquan Thornton added an eight-yard score in Las Vegas. Travis Kelce, in his 14th season, caught an 11-yard touchdown against Miami. Andy Reid said in June that the team was ready to start Justin Fields in Week 1 if Mahomes was not. They are the team that beat the Chiefs 16-13 the day his knee gave out. Stay updated with the latest Asian Games 2026 news , check the Asian Games medal tally and complete Asian Games schedule .
Because it shortens the list of hits a repaired knee must absorb, better protection matters more than any single throw,. Analyst Trey Wingo pointed out that Brady and Mahomes both won three Super Bowls early, then tore an ACL in their ninth seasons with their teams missing the playoffs.
Describing the Raiders game, Mahomes said, “I think you have to stay with it. Chiefs sports medicine chief Rick Burkholder said Mahomes’ structured lifestyle could speed his recovery, and the quarterback said in July that starting the opener was his goal. That raises a fair question about the rest of his career: how many more titles can he win? The answer depends less on his arm than on his knee, his offensive line and the roster around him. Nobody in Kansas City planned a quick handoff. Mahomes was there to learn. He got one start that year. Broncos cornerback Aqib Talib walked away predicting Smith would hit free agency. Soon after, the Chiefs traded Smith to Washington for cornerback Kendall Fuller and a third-round pick, and the job was Mahomes’ to keep. He kept it fast. Five Super Bowl trips followed, three ending in wins and two in losses. That résumé is why one awkward step on a knee now moves the entire league. Mahomes rolled to his right, threw the ball away and went down awkwardly. The diagnosis was a torn ACL and a torn LCL, and Dr. Dan Cooper operated in Dallas the next night. ” Kenneth Walker III has helped. The comparison started the day he got hurt. The part people skip is the waiting. Along the way his roster kept changing, and so did the way he played. Mahomes fits that pattern. Start with the calendar. Now the arithmetic. Stretch that pace across the next eight and you land near three more. That is too generous. Age, injuries and the salary cap rarely allow straight lines. A smarter estimate is one or two more, and either would matter. One would tie him with Joe Montana and Terry Bradshaw at four. Two would put him at five, still well behind Brady’s seven. Same core group, wildly different results. Protection is partly about targets who get open fast. Join conversation Share your thoughts in the comments Be respectful · TOI community guidelines The line is the bigger worry. Mahomes took heavy punishment behind an overwhelmed group last season, and the Chiefs benched a left guard during the Raiders game. The Chiefs had a backup plan. His own habits help. He made it. The next test comes Sunday, when the Chargers visit Kansas City. Get the latest Sports News and Live updates. Download the TOI app.
Last year shows how thin the margin is.