What Super Bowl 57 win would mean for Patrick Mahomes’ legacy

It’s not a stretch to say that Patrick Mahomes is one of the best quarterbacks in the game right now. Sure, point that out in any elevator, at the pub or on social media, and it’s likely to touch off a debate about the best signal-callers in the NFL, but even rival fans will acknowledge the Kansas City Chiefs quarterback’s place among the elite.

At just 27, Mahomes will be making his third Super Bowl appearance. Mahomes helped the Chiefs beat the San Francisco 49ers to win Super Bowl 54. He threw for 286 yards, two touchdowns and two interceptions, adding another 29 yards on the ground and a touchdown. That earned him the game’s MVP award. He was back in the Big Game a year later, losing to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Now, making his third trip to Super Bowl, Mahomes has a chance to cement his legacy by helping lead his team to its second Lombardi Trophy in four years.

Two Super Bowl wins are a big deal for an NFL quarterback. Only four players in the history of the game have won more. Only eight quarterbacks have won two Super Bowls, including Hall of Famers like John Elway, Bart Starr and Peyton Manning.

Winning two Super Bowls doesn’t guarantee a vote into the Hall of Fame, just ask Jim Plunkett. Eli Manning, another two-time Super Bowl winner, will be eligible for the Hall of Fame in 2025, so we’ll have a better sense of how modern-day voters view quarterbacks with that lofty achievement on their resume.

A win would obviously cement Mahomes’ legacy as the league’s best. It would also put him in a great position to win another Super Bowl down the line. As mentioned earlier, he’s only 27, and the Chiefs have him under contract through 2031. If he can stay healthy, he’s got a massive window to hoist another Lombardi Trophy or two, which would almost guarantee a spot in Canton.

For now, a second Super Bowl win goes a long way toward settling the debate about who the league’s best quarterback is. Now that Tom Brady has retired for good, it would make Mahomes the only active quarterback with two Super Bowl wins in his career. That’s going to be an oft-cited point in any casual debate in sports bars and on talk radio shows about the game’s best quarterbacks.

This article can also be found in our Ultimate Guide to Super Bowl 57, presented by Frank’s Red Hot.