coyly.Receiver Julian Edelman posted聽#BetAgainstUs

KANSAS CITY Mecole Hardman Kansas City Chiefs Jerseys , Mo. (AP) — The Kansas City Chiefs are already planning their future around signing quarterback Patrick Mahomes to a long-term contract, even though the NFL MVP won’t be eligible to sign an extension until after next season.Chiefs general manager Bret Veach said during a wide-ranging interview Thursday that some of the financial decisions made dating back to last offseason were done with Mahomes in mind, such as the way the franchise structured contracts and how they approached free agency and the draft.“We were prepared for Pat to have success and be a franchise quarterback,” Veach said, “so this process of structuring ourselves for the next three, four, five years started about a year ago.”In the ensuing 12 months, the Chiefs traded incumbent quarterback Alex Smith to Washington and handed the job to Mahomes, who threw for more than 5,000 yards along with 50 touchdown passes while leading the club to its third straight AFC West title and the conference championship game.The Chiefs lost in overtime to the Patriots, a defeat made even more frustrating by the fact that Kansas City lost the coin flip and Mahomes never had a chance with the ball in the extra session.Off the field, Mahomes has become one of the NFL’s biggest stars.With his moppy Mohawk, earnest attitude and game-changing ability, Mahomes became must-watch TV by the end of the season. He had the eighth-best selling jersey in the NFL, has been courted by a wave of sponsors and has led Las Vegas odds-makers to peg the Chiefs as Super Bowl favorites next season.Some suggest Mahomes could ultimately sign the first $200 million contract in NFL history when he is eligible for an extension after next season.“Even last year, we were putting a plan together,” Veach said. “I think we have a good plan, and everything we do structure-wise will allow for necessary room moving forward.”Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers set the market with a $134 million, four-year extension last offseason, while Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan signed a $150 million, five-year deal. Rodgers has the average highest salary while Ryan had the highest signing guarantee of $94.5 million.Whatever it takes, Veach is intent on making sure the Chiefs have flexibility to do it.“Obviously there’s tremendous talent Kansas City Chiefs Jerseys 2019 , and we had seen obviously a chance to see a lot of his work in college, and we saw all last year,” Veach said. “You knew it was inevitable it was coming. But what surprised me was the ease at which he did it. Even great players when they’re young, you anticipate a wall at some point after seven, eight weeks, but there was never really a time.”BASKETBALL CAUTIONVideo of Mahomes making a slick spin move during a pickup basketball game went viral this week, and Veach said he’s already spoken to his quarterback about being careful off the field.“It was obviously a light-hearted discussion,” he said. “The problem with Pat is he does everything 100 mph and so dang competitive. I was like, ‘Hey man, you’re breaking a lot of ankles out there. Don’t break your own.’ And he was like, ‘No, no, we got that.'”STAR SAFETYEric Berry hardly played last season because of a mysterious heel injury, though he was on the field for the AFC title game. Veach said the highly-paid safety would discuss with doctors and the training staff whether to have surgery this offseason.“There’s so much medical information they are working through,” he said. “They’re going through all the postseason evals and exams and then sit down and put together a plan.”THE LINEBACKERSThe Chiefs are expected to switch from a 3-4 defense to a 4-3 under new coordinator Steve Spagnuolo, and that could cause big personnel decisions. Veteran linebacker Justin Houston has the Chiefs’ biggest salary cap number at $21.1 million next season, while top pass rusher Dee Ford could be a candidate for the franchise tag as he hits free agency.“We are running a different scheme now and we started the process Monday of going through the roster, giving you a pure feel of strengths, weaknesses, where we can get better,” Veach said. “Dee is a player that has done so much for us. We’re excited about bringing him back.”OTHER CONTRACTSDefensive tackle Chris Jones and wide receiver Tyreek Hill are eligible for contract extensions this offseason, and Veach said those discussions could begin at the NFL combine.“We’ll have a lot of dialogue with their agents 2019 Mecole Hardman Kansas City Chiefs ,” he said. “We want them to be here. I’m sure they want to be here and we want to keep this rolling.”HUNT’S FUTUREVeach danced around the question of whether the Chiefs would ever sign running back Kareem Hunt, whom they cut midway through the season after video surfaced of him kicking a woman in a Cleveland hotel. Hunt remains on the commissioner’s exempt list, but other teams have expressed an interest in the former NFL rushing champion.“Our focus and our hopes with Kareem is he’s able to take the steps necessary to get his life in order, and do the right things,” Veach said. “Everything else after that is not as important.” FOXBOROUGH, Mass. 鈥?The Patriots are going on the road again in the playoffs, a place that hasn’t always been kind to them during the Tom Brady era.New England was unbeatable at home this season, going 8-0 during the regular season and rolling past the Los Angeles Chargers in the divisional round.Playing outside of Massachusetts has provided different outcomes. Brady is 8-4 in AFC championship games with a 6-1 record at home. But he’s just 2-3 on the road in the conference title game, with both wins coming at Pittsburgh during the 2001 and 2004 seasons. New England was 3-5 in games away from Gillette Stadium聽in the 2018 regular season.The Patriots enter Sunday’s AFC title game at Kansas City trying to become the first team since the 1990s Bills to reach the Super Bowl after losing it the previous season. They haven’t won a road playoff game since beating the Chargers 24-21 in the divisional round of the 2006 season.The Patriots lost to the Colts on the road in the 2006 AFC title game and twice at Denver 鈥?in the AFC championship game during the 2013 season and again in the 2015 AFC title game. New England has played the rest of its 22 playoff games since 2006 at home or a neutral field in the Super Bowl.“It’s tough to beat the No. 1 seed on the road. That’s the reality, just like we’re tough to beat at home when we’re the No. 1 seed,” Brady said this week. “It takes a lot. It takes a lot of good football. It takes a great complementary game. All three phases have to be on point. We’re going against a team that scores a lot of points.”They will also have to deal with what could be the聽coldest temperature for a game聽in Arrowhead Stadium history. An arctic blast is forecast for Kansas City.Patriots linebacker Dont’a Hightower said his focus will be on trying to contain the NFL’s top scoring offense and not the thermometer.“It’s definitely one of the hardest places to play. But, at the end of the day, it just comes down to executing. It comes down to football and executing plays,” Hightower said. “They’re a high-powered offense and they’re real good on defense, so obviously defensively, we’re going to have to eliminate big plays.”The Patriots opened the week as a three-point underdog, the first time in 68 games, including playoffs, that Brady didn’t enter a week as the favorite.The previous time Brady wasn’t the favorite was on Sept. 20, 2015, at Buffalo. The Pats were two-point underdogs that day and won the game 40-32.It’s why Chiefs coach Andy Reid is expecting Brady and the Patriots’ best effort on Sunday.“They’re a heck of a team, so I don’t get caught up in all that Mecole Hardman Jersey Cheap ,” Reid said. “You’re talking about a dynasty, if there is such a thing, in the National Football League. They’ve been that. You’re talking about a head coach that I think the world of him, I think he’s a great coach. He’s done a phenomenal job keeping that thing together. We’re getting ready to get their best shot — offense, defense and special teams.”Brady didn’t hide his thoughts for the Patriots’ critics in the aftermath of their divisional-round win over the Chargers, commenting, “I know everybody thinks we suck and, you know, we can’t win any games.” But he tried to downplay being officially cast in the role of underdog this week.“It doesn’t change much for us, but it just kind of shows you what people think about what our chances are. That’s about it,” Brady said.At least one of his teammates didn’t play it quite as coyly.Receiver Julian Edelman posted聽#BetAgainstUs on his Twitter account聽accompanied with a video that featured highlights of the Chiefs’ season. The montage ends with shots of Brady and Edelman from New England’s comeback win in overtime from a 25-point deficit in the Super Bowl against Atlanta in the 2016 season.So, is being an underdog motivation or not for the Patriots?“If you’re not motivated this week, you’ve got a major problem,” Brady said. “This is the week where you shouldn’t have to put anything extra in. This is what it’s all about. You sign up any chance you get to play in the AFC championship game, so I don’t care where, when, time, cold weather, rain, blood. It don’t matter.”100View Gallery Gallery:View from the sidelines: NFL cheerleaders 2018Raj Mehta-USA TODAY Sports | Raj Mehta