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Patrick Mahomes is eligible to sign a contract extension now, which by all reason, should make him the highest-paid player in the game. The Chiefs know this, while acknowledging it could take some time.

For his part, Mahomes wants to be careful to make sure that while he gets his, there’s enough left over for the team to compete for another Super Bowl title.

“When you look back on your career at the end of your career, you want to look back and see a lot of success, a lot of wins, a lot of Super Bowl wins hopefully — it’s something where I want to look back and see a lot of success,” Mahomes told Terez Paylor of Yahoo Sports. “Obviously I want to get a contract, obviously I want to provide for my family for a long time and do everything like that.

“But I want to make sure I do it the smart way and do it the right way, and so I don’t know exactly which way that is, yet. I know that my people and the Chiefs’ people will talk about it, and will do it at the right time and for the betterment for the team. But I’m excited to be a Kansas City Chief for a very long time, and I know that’s going to be handled the right way because of the people the Kansas City Chiefs have in their organization.”

The Chiefs have some contract issues at the moment that may not reach Mahomes’ level financially, but are more immediate.

They are expected to franchise tag defensive end Chris Jones if they can’t reach a long-term deal, and they could restructure Sammy Watkins‘ contract (i.e. give him a pay cut from the $14 million he’s due). Mahomes has talked to both, but not necessarily about their finances (because it would be rude for quarterbacks to be in other people’s money).

“I think the biggest thing is, [you’re] talking [to] them as people and I mean, those guys love playing for the Kansas City Chiefs — y’all know that, how they talk about the Kansas City Chiefs,” Mahomes said. “They also want to be able to provide for their families, just like I do, so they’re gonna do what’s best for themselves and for their families. But I know they love playing for the Kansas City Chiefs and love winning championships as much as I do, so I’m excited for them to go out there and have success and hopefully, it’s with the Kansas City Chiefs.”

Eventually, the price of success is that you can’t pay everybody, though it’s clear that paying Mahomes is a factor in every other calculation.