Former New England Patriots wide receiver Julian Edelman recently made an appearance on "The Dan Patrick Show" and, to little surprise, some of the chatter led to comparisons between Patrick Mahomes and Tom Brady.
Bringing up Brady, widely considered the NFL "GOAT," is more than fair whenever it comes to the 29-year-old Mahomes and his accomplishments.
As a seven-year starter for the Kansas City Chiefs, Mahomes has been to a ridiculous seven straight AFC championships and has three Super Bowls rings.
On the cusp of making NFL history with the Chiefs looking to three-peat, Edelman was asked what Mahomes needs to do to surpass "TB12."
While it might seem somewhat obvious, Edelman was correct in stressing that longevity will likely end up playing a rather large factor in No. 15 matching or eclipsing Brady's historic tally of seven Super Bowl rings.
What he followed up with was also an element worth mentioning, as Edelman looked ahead to Mahomes and the Chiefs inevitably facing a transition period just like every NFL team faces at some point.
"It'll be interesting for me to see the next chapter of Patrick Mahomes when some sort of adversity comes along," Edelman expressed. "He's going to be playing way longer after Travis [Kelce], Chris Jones when he departs. He's going to be there by himself. Will he be able to retool and find guys to help him go out and win, which that's what Tom [Brady] had to do and it took him to 10 years to get to the next one."
This is a relatively fair statement from Edelman, with the only surprising part being that he neglected to mention 66-year-old head coach Andy Reid eventually retiring.
Because there's probably a very strong chance Mahomes will be playing under a different head coach in the coming years—which might be sooner than later if they win Super Bowl 59—and that might be the most significant change the star quarterback and Chiefs ownership will end up facing.
In terms of Mahomes being there "by himself," he's already proven that replacing some of the most significant pieces around him is more than doable in Kansas City sustaining its astounding consistency.
Look no further than when prolific wide receiver Tyreek Hill was traded to the Dolphins going into the 2022 season.
While many NFL pundits and fans alike expected a noticeable drop-off, the Chiefs barely missed a beat, with Mahomes throwing 41 touchdown passes in the regular season and winning his second Super Bowl in four years.
