Patrick Mahomes thinks NFL is 'definitely' going to be different without Tom Brady playing

For the first time since the ’90s, the NFL is going to be missing one very key ingredient: Tom Brady. After 23 years, Brady officially called it a career this offseason. With that, he has passed the torch to the next era of quarterbacks in the league.

Kansas City QB Patrick Mahomes is leading the charge for that new era with what he has done over his six seasons with the Chiefs. Still, even he recognizes that the NFL isn’t going to be the same now without the G.O.A.T. playing in it.

“It’s definitely going to be different,” Mahomes said in an interview with COMPLEX. “At the end of the day, you expected his team to be at the end of the season every year. You were striving to be better and continue to make your team better so that you were able to win that game against him.”

Still, Mahomes feels like the league is prepared now more than ever to handle the loss of Brady. He notes the talent throughout the quarterback ranks already and the prospects that are coming up next. With him at the forefront, he believes the position, and therefore the NFL, are in good hands to move on to the next chapter after Brady was their face for two decades.

“I think the NFL’s in a great place though,” said Mahomes. “I don’t know how but all the quarterbacks that have been developed over the last few years? It’s like every single year it’s like two to three, four guys are coming in. They’re becoming great players in this league.”

“You’ve got to continue to push, man. There’s great quarterbacks throughout both conferences. AFC, NFC. And you can see them in college football already,” Mahomes said. “So I just continue to push to get better. Luckily, I’ve become one of the older guys even though I’m still young. So I’m going to try to keep pushing myself to be just barely one step ahead of these guys.”

Brady finished his career with New England and Tampa Bay with seven Super Bowl wins, three MVPs, and 15 Pro Bowls. As far as statistics, he retired as the NFL’s all-time passing leaders when it came to completions, attempts, yards, and touchdowns.

With that said, Mahomes is now gunning for that all-time QB1 spot where Brady comfortably sits. He, as well as the rest of the quarterbacks, may have incredible respect for TB12 but, with him ridden off into the sunset, the goal from here is to pass him in every record book starting in the 2023 season.