After leading the Kansas City Chiefs to victory in this year's Super Bowl,

Patrick Mahomes has been rewarded with the biggest contract in NFL history.

His agents say the 10-year extension to the end of the 2031 season is worth up to
$503m (£403m), making him the "first half-billion dollar player in sports history". But
why have the Chiefs given Mahomes such a big contract?

The 24-year-old quarterback won the NFL's Most Valuable Player award for the 2018
season - his first as a starter - before being named the Super Bowl MVP in his
second.

Here, former NFL cornerback and BBC pundit Jason Bell explains why Mahomes is
such a special talent and analyses what this deal means for the Chiefs.

Were you surprised by the deal?

It's supply and demand in its simplest form. There's not many people on the planet
that can do what he can, that has that kind of skill set. Not only are there not many
but he's the best of the few so he's going to be paid according to that.

The quarterback position is the number one position on the field in football, they're
the highest-paid players and he's the best so he sets the market. We knew he'd be
the highest-paid quarterback in the history of the sport and it was going to be over
$200m, because of his age and his performance.

He's the best quarterback in the NFL right now, he's fresh off of winning a Super
Bowl, and he's got time on his side because he's young, so he deserves every bit of
this contract.

Is Mahomes worth the money?

The talking heads like me might talk about team building and how this money
changes other decisions and the players they can bring in. When you think about
that [the salary cap], there's an argument to that.

But everybody's chasing a franchise quarterback, every team wants a Patrick

Mahomes. That is the thing that makes them elite, so when you have him, you can't
let him out of the building.

It gives Kansas City the opportunity to be a successful dynasty and get more Super
Bowls underneath their banner while he's under the helm at the quarterback position.

 Super Bowl 2020: 'Showtime' Mahomes provides perfect finish

What makes him such a special talent?

There's a few things - he's got God-given arm talent like something I've never seen
before; his ability to throw the ball from all different platforms, all different angles, and
a little bit of that is his baseball background.

He also has great movement, especially in the pocket, where he can create plays off
second plays that go for long touchdowns. We saw that happen in the Super Bowl.
Plus his ability to recognise what the defence is doing to him and the way he can
break down defences has gotten better.

With [head coach] Andy Reid, one of the best offensive coaches in football history,
together they are finding a way, using his talent, to just dissect defences and he's
only going to get better at that the more he sees, being so young.