Patrick Mahomes, Joe Burrow, Josh Allen and Lamar Jackson entered the NFL in different circumstances, but all four quarterbacks now face an important stretch of their careers. Mahomes already has three Super Bowl wins, while the other three are still chasing their first.

On ESPN's Get Up, Domonique Foxworth examined the four quarterbacks standing around the middle of their primes. Host Mike Greenberg noted that each has made major changes around him while preparing for the next stage of his career.

“It's a great topic for a radio show where you could dive into it for an hour because if you look at all the great quarterbacks in history, they all had the big second acts," Greenberg said. "The only one who cashed in on his first act amongst these four is Mahomes. The others are all trying to get it done.”

Speaking on ESPN's Get Up on August 31, Greenberg's point was simple: Mahomes has already turned his early success into championships and a massive payday.

Mahomes has already turned his early success into another massive payday. His latest two-year extension added $239.05 million in new money and pushed the total value of his Chiefs contract to $504.5 million.

That figure puts Mahomes in a financial tier of his own. His new deal carries an average annual value of just over $63 million. That puts him ahead of Dak Prescott at $60 million.

Allen, Burrow, Trevor Lawrence, Jordan Love and Matthew Stafford are all at $55 million.

NFL analyst Dan Orlovsky took the discussion further, explaining why Mahomes is in a different position from Burrow, Allen and Jackson. He compared the other three quarterbacks to John Elway, noting that Elway's career changed after he worked under multiple head coaches before eventually winning a Super Bowl.

Orlovsky suggested that Burrow, Allen, and Jackson are now trying to figure out which historical path their careers will follow, with one potentially becoming the next Elway while the others could be remembered more like Dan Marino or Philip Rivers. He also compared Burrow's early-career injuries to Drew Brees.

Allen, Burrow, and Jackson have each taken different approaches to building their next chapter.

For Mahomes, the challenge is keeping his place at the top while Kansas City works its way back after missing the playoffs last season.

Patrick Mahomes still has believers around the NFL

Kansas City finished last season 6-11 and missed the playoffs for the first time since 2014. Mahomes also tore his ACL and LCL in December. His availability for the start of 2026 quickly became one of the Chiefs' biggest questions.

Still, not everyone expects Kansas City to stay down for long.

“They still have Andy Reid, arguably the best head coach in football. They still have Patrick Mahomes, arguably, and I don’t know, it’s very arguable, the best quarterback in football in terms of accolades, stats, rewards, all this kind of stuff,” Trey Wingo said on the Inside Football podcast.

Mahomes did not play during the preseason as he continued working back from the knee injuries. Kansas City instead used its exhibition games to evaluate its other quarterbacks and new pieces around him.

The Chiefs also added running back Kenneth Walker, giving Mahomes a more established option in the backfield. That could help an offense that struggled to consistently create balance last season.

Kansas City's season begins September 14 against the Denver Broncos.

Mahomes hopes to be back by then. He'll have another chance to add to a resume that already puts him ahead of the quarterbacks chasing him.

Written by

Evince Das