Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes said he likely would have stayed at Texas Tech until his senior year if NIL had existed during his playing days.

Mahomes gave this answer in a Q&A with Pete Krathoff of the Kansas City Star in response to this question: “If NIL had existed when you were in college, what would have happened for you?”

“That would have been a lot of money, especially for Lubbock, Texas,” Mahomes replied. “If I could have gotten NIL, I probably would have stayed for my senior year, and who knows how the rest of my NFL story would have gone?”

Mahomes, who had 41 touchdowns and 5,052 yards in his final college season, played at Texas Tech from 2014 to 2016. NIL was founded in July 2021.

Mahomes would have entered the 2017 season as one of the biggest names in college football. He was already a highly touted NFL prospect and was selected 10th overall by the Chiefs in the draft.

It’s impossible to estimate how much Mahomes would have made, but it’s entirely possible he would have received a seven-figure NIL valuation. Thirteen college football quarterbacks or recruits have a valuation of $1 million or more, according to On3.

That number may have been lower in 2017, but Mahomes was so electric and productive at that point that he probably would have done very well.

Of course, staying another year would have likely changed the course of NFL history. The Chiefs moved up from 27th to 10th in 2017 to get Mahomes, who was a year behind Alex Smith. Had Mahomes stayed, he very well could have been the first pick in the 2018 NFL Draft and gone to the Cleveland Browns with the No. 1 pick. Kansas City would have gotten the No. 22 pick, even though the team traded its first-round pick to the Buffalo Bills in the 2017 trade.

Mahomes ultimately landed with the Chiefs, who won three Super Bowls under the former Texas Tech star’s leadership, and are looking to make it four Super Bowls in six years (and three in a row) in 2024.