The Chiefs’ decision to package two first-round draft picks to move up for quarterback Patrick Mahomes last year is now looking like a stroke of genius, as Mahomes is off to one of the best starts in NFL history in his first season as the Chiefs’ starter. But that decision is also one of the great “what ifs” of NFL history, as if the Chiefs hadn’t made that move, the Saints might have taken Mahomes.
Saints head coach Sean Payton has acknowledged that the situation easily could have been reversed: If the Chiefs, who moved up to No. 10 overall, had drafted Marshon Lattimore, then the Saints would have drafted Mahomes at No. 11. And in an in-depth look at the Chiefs’ draft plans a year ago, Terez Paylor of Yahoo writes that the Chiefs were always targeting the 10th overall pick because they thought the Saints wanted Mahomes.
The Saints drafting Mahomes would have changed all kinds of things about the NFL today: The Chiefs probably would have kept Alex Smith as their quarterback. The Saints, with Mahomes, probably would have let Drew Brees walk in free agency this year. Where would Brees have gone? And what about the domino effect of Smith going to Washington, Kirk Cousins going to Minnesota, Case Keenum going to Denver, and so on this offseason? How would the dominoes have fallen differently if it had been Mahomes in New Orleans and Brees on the open market?
Given that they made the playoffs last year and Brees is still going strong this year, New Orleans fans certainly can’t be too disappointed with the way things played out. But considering that Mahomes is looking like he’s poised to be one of the best quarterbacks in the league for many, many years to come, there might be just a twinge of regret in Payton’s mind that things didn’t turn out differently.
