Patrick Mahomes: Chiefs offseason consistency ‘was huge for us to do’

Patrick Mahomes is a big fan of the Chiefs offseason consistency.

Not that Brett Veach likely ever asked (or maybe he did), but the Kansas City Chiefs general manager has Patrick Mahomes’ approval of his offseason plan.

In a recent interview with CBS Sports, Mahomes spoke out about his brand new contract, working with Andy Reid, his love for ketchup and more. However, one interesting point of note was his take on the Chiefs offseason. When asked about his favorite move, he said:

"“I think it was just how many people we brought back. I mean, we kept this thing together. When you’re in times like this when you don’t get to be around the team, you don’t get to see everybody every single day like you’re used to and learn how to build those cultures together. To already have those lasting relationships and knowing where you can count on people and having those people in the building that do things the right way, I think that was huge for us to do.”"

If you need a reminder, the Chiefs have brought back 20 of 22 starters from their Super Bowl winning team. The biggest offseason loss was the release of punter Dustin Colquitt, the longest-tenured and oldest player on the team. From there, the Chiefs are missing other players like cornerback Kendall Fuller, offensive lineman Stefen Wisniewski, linebacker Reggie Ragland and tight end Blake Bell. For a roster capable of winning a Super Bowl, those losses are minimal, to be sure.

It’s not as if it was easy for the Chiefs to bring everyone back. In fact, it made complete sense for them to move on from some of those same players. Sammy Watkins was already the most expensive wide receiver in football, yet the Chiefs restructured his deal instead of trading or releasing him, as expected. Even after the changes were made, Watkins is still the fourth highest cap hit in the NFL at wideout for the 2020 season.

The Chiefs also re-signed cornerback Bashaud Breeland, wide receiver Demarcus Robinson, fullback Anthony Sherman and defensive lineman Mike Pennel.

It’s hard to tell just how much of the offseason plan was fueled by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and its capacity to completely shut down, or at least limit, the upcoming season, but Veach certainly leaned into the idea of bringing everyone back all the more as the virus began to take hold from coast to coast.

In addition, the Chiefs worked to keep this core intact for years to come. While role players may come and go, Veach locked up Patrick Mahomes for the next 12 years and kept Chris Jones for four more. It was difficult to imagine the Chiefs could keep both for the long-term before the season began, yet here they are with even players like Watkins still in tow.

The Chiefs were already good enough to lift the Lombardi and if they’d sustained a few losses of the aforementioned players, they still would have been favored to win it again. Given the additions of exciting new players alongside the veterans brought back, it’s easy to see why Mahomes approves.