Adam Vinatieri Says SB LIX Win Puts Mahomes In GOAT Convo, 'You've Got an Argument'

Adam Vinatieri knows a thing or two about greatness -- he, after all, played with Tom Brady and is considered the most clutch kicker ever -- and he tells TMZ Sports if Patrick Mahomes beats Philadelphia in next month's Super Bowl, the Chiefs star will have a real claim to the NFL's GOAT title.

The victory in New Orleans, of course, would give Mahomes his fourth ring -- and while that's still three behind Brady's total of seven, it would make him the first-ever signal-caller to earn three in a row.

Vinatieri tells us that feat would be so impressive ... he'd be down to start having the conversation of whether or not Mahomes deserves to be considered the greatest of all time.

"I've always said, Tom's got seven Super Bowls and until somebody knocks -- does something that he hasn't, he's still the man, right?" Vinatieri said. "But this, we're getting to something that even the great Tom Brady ... has not done."

There are obviously a couple other quarterbacks in the convo -- Vinatieri specifically mentioned his former teammate, Peyton Manning, as another with some right to make the claim ... but he said if Kansas City "can pull this off in two weeks from now, I dare say you've got an argument."

The game goes down on Feb. 9 -- and while Vinatieri will no doubt have his eyes all over the action ... he's also going to be using the Big Game to help make people aware of gun safety.