NFL: Who are the main playoff contenders after the Kansas City Chiefs are eliminated?

Whoever qualifies, this will be the first season since 1998 that neither Mahomes, Tom Brady or Peyton Manning makes the NFL playoffs.

Mahomes was drafted in 2017 and after becoming Kansas City’s starting quarterback in 2018, he has led the Chiefs to five of the past six Super Bowls.

Mahomes’ team’s first exit from title contention was overtime in the AFC Championship Game — effectively a Super Bowl semifinal — so Mahomes’ injury was probably inevitable.

“The Chiefs have played more football than any other team,” Scheckter said. “Combine all those playoff games, and it’s like you’re playing an extra season, so you get injuries, you get tired.

“And because they were always at the top, they never had a high-level selection, so they couldn’t build the rest of the team.”

Mahomes has already undergone surgery after tearing the anterior cruciate ligament and collateral ligament in his left knee, so the 30-year-old could miss the start of next season.

Travis Kelce, 36, could retire at the end of this season, while defensive tackle Chris Jones turns 32 in July, but since the Chiefs won’t be a playoff team, at least they’ll have a higher pick than they’re used to in next year’s NFL Draft in April.

“[Head coach] Andy Reid W [defensive coordinator] “Steve Spagnuolo are great coaches who know exactly how to build a team and sustain success,” Scheckter added.

“I just think some players might back out. Do people want to keep playing who might be thinking, ‘Let’s try to get another Super Bowl’? Or have they decided to retire now?”