Patrick Mahomes doesn't just have the Broncos' number. Heck, no. The bum's snagged the Broncos' social security digits, too.

He's got the Broncos' credit card info. Their bank passwords. Their moms' maiden names. The identities of the Broncos' first pets. All of it.

"Until they trade the quarterback and head coach," Broncos general manager George Paton cracked earlier this week when asked about the Chiefs dealing Tyreek Hill to Miami, "I'm probably not going to worry about (Kansas City's swaps).

"They still have a lot of really good weapons. They have one of the best coaches, one of the best quarterbacks. Obviously, they've set the standard, and we have a long way to go."

Signing free agent safety Tyrann Mathieu, who bedeviled the Broncos as part of the Chiefs secondary from 2019-21, could shorten that distance. No question.

Hey, after 13 straight losses to Kansas City, it wouldn't just taste sweet to bring the Honey Badger to Broncos Country. It would feel like a slice of overdue justice, carved from the coarse, furfuraceous flesh of a half-decade's misery, finally being served.

The problem?

Fine print. Also, the dang math.

There are at least two pickles with the Broncos making a push for Mathieu this spring, and neither are trifling: Age and price.

The Honey Badger turns 30 in May. His interceptions (three in '21) and passes defensed (six) totals have gone down, incrementally, over each of the last three seasons with the Chiefs.

Spotrac.com says the veteran safety is worth $14.8 million per year on the open market. OverTheCap.com projects the Broncos to have $14.5 million in "effective cap space" for this fall once the '22 rookie class is added to the roster.

Unless a veteran wants to sell his bank account short to join The Russ Train, Paton's running out of room to get creative with a sexy name.

"Yeah, you always know what's going on in the division and obviously, teams are stacking up in our division," the Broncos GM told reporters Sunday at the league meetings. "But it's too early to say (the AFC West) is the best division or whatever people are saying.

"We're worried about the Broncos and trying to get up with it. It's hard for us to really talk about competing in our division until we do. We really haven't competed in our division for five or six years. So we really need to just need to worry about ourselves."

Refreshing, isn't it?

Straight talk. No chaser.

No baloney, either.

What you love is how Paton's actions over the last three weeks have backed it up. The subtle makeover that smoothed over the roughest edges that inevitably dragged the tail end of the John Elway Era, annually, into the nearest ditch.

Franchise QB? Solved. Replacing Shelby Harris? Solved. Replacing Von Miller? Probably solved.

And there's still a draft weekend to go. If you don't believe in what Paton's doing in Dove Valley now, you probably never will.

So when the whispers coming out of UCHealth Training Center are that Paton's front office sees an upside — cost-effective upside — in second-year-to-be safety Caden Sterns moving up the depth chart and into what was Kareem Jackson's starting slot, we might have to offer the benefit of the doubt.

And if that's not good enough, here's what Pro-Football-Reference.com had to say about how Broncos Country's prospective partners for Justin Simmons fared last fall:

Exhibit A: Opponent passer rating when targeted

Caden Sterns — 90.3 rating

Kareem Jackson — 113.3 rating

Tyrann Mathieu — 88.1 rating

Exhibit B: Opponent receiving yards per times targeted

Sterns — 11.2 yards

Jackson — 9.5 yards

Mathieu — 8.0 yards

Exhibit C: Missed-tackle percentage

Sterns — 9.7% (three whiffs, 28 stops)

Jackson — 11.1% (11 whiffs, 88 stops)

Mathieu — 9.5% (eight whiffs, 76 stops)

The sticky part?

For Paton, it's this:

Exhibit D: Annual contract value, per OverTheCap.com:

Sterns — $0.893 million to $0.953 million

Jackson — $4.6 million to $5 million

Mathieu — $13.1 million to $14.0 million

Sterns is on a rookie deal, and a fifth-round deal at that, so the Texas Longhorns product offers killer value for any production close to league average through 2024. Mathieu, by contrast, is a star looking for a star payday.

With Jackson, you get what you pay for. Mostly.

The Broncos were credited with 84 missed tackles as a team last season, per Pro-Football-Reference. According to charting done by The Post's Ryan O'Halloran, Jackson last fall accounted for 14 of those, or 16.7%, all by himself. No. 22 was tracked by The Post with recording nine missed tackles in 2020, or 9.6% of the team's 94 total whiffs.

Which means if you're Paton, the logical course is follow what Mahomes did whenever he spotted Jackson alone in coverage last fall. You pass.