NFL quarterback Patrick Mahomes received an historic contract on Monday, signing a 10-year deal with the Kansas City Chiefs worth up to $503 million. The half-a-billion dollar contract is the largest in North American sports history and absolutely dwarfs most contracts in the soccer world.
Mahomes doesn’t just receive $503 million on his doorstep and call it a day. According to CBS, the 10-year extension is worth $450 million, with an annual salary of $45 million per year barring any injuries.
This $45 million annual salary will be used as a comparison to the annual salaries of those in the soccer world.
Patrick Mahomes’ Annual Salary Vs. Soccer Annual Salaries
Lionel Messi
Lionel Messi's contract extension in 2017 made him the highest paid player in the sport. The little maestro receives an annual salary of $72 million per Forbes.
Verdict: Messi proves which "football" pays more and has Mahomes beat with a comfortable margin of $27 million.
Neymar
Neymar may not be the highest paid player anymore, but at least he still has the record for most expensive transfer. As for his salary PSG is giving Neymar roughly $70.5 million per year.
Verdict: The Parisians broke the bank on Neymar and supply him with about $25 million more than Mahomes.
Cristiano Ronaldo
Cristiano Ronaldo is the highest-paid player when it comes to adding up endorsements and salary. When it comes down to annual salary the Portuguese superstar is paid $60 million per year.
Verdict: Ronaldo's annual salary is $15 million more lucrative than Mahomes'. The figures for the NFL star's endorsements haven't been realeased, but with deals with adidas, Oakley, State Farm, Head and Shoulders, Procter and Gamble and plenty more, the numbers are more than likely ludicrous.
Christian Pulisic
America’s highest-paid soccer player, Christian Pulisic will more than likely be getting a pay raise if his form continues. According to Tribuna, Chelsea is paying the American star an annual salary of $9.5 million.
Verdict: Mahomes’ annual salary will be four-times larger than Pulisic’s current annual salary with Chelsea.
MLS
Each year the MLS Players Association releases the salary figures for the year. In 2019 it was revealed that Toronto FC paid the most money in player salaries with a total of $24,267,066. Mahomes will make about $20 million more in his annual salary than all of the player’s annual salaries on Toronto FC combined.
Mahomes will also make more than the bottom five MLS teams combined. All of the annual salaries of the Vancouver Whitecaps, Colorado Rapids, New York Red Bulls, Houston Dynamo and FC Dallas in 2019 combined was roughly $43 million. Mahomes has all of that money and then some.
Verdict: Ouch.
NWSL
At the end of 2019, the National Women’s Soccer League changed its pay structure for players to make more. The salary cap for each team was increased to $650,000 per team with the maximum salary for a player being $50,000. With newly branded Racing Louisville joining in 2021, NWSL will have 10 teams. If each team used all $650,000 and reached the salary cap, all of the NWSL annual salaries combined would be $6.5 million (not including players paid by the USWNT and Canada national team).
Verdict: Mahomes’ annual salary will be about seven times as lucrative as every NWSL annual salary combined.
