FMIA: How KC landed Patrick Mahomes in 2017, mastermind Steve Spagnuolo & re-watching Super Bowl LVIII

April 27, 2017. A day that will live in glorious history for one franchise, and in what-might-have-been glumness for others.

Around dinnertime in Louisiana, pro golfer Ryan Palmer—good friend of Saints coach Sean Payton—and pal Jordan Spieth drove over to the Saints’ facility for a treat: In town for the Zurich Classic, Spieth and Palmer were invited to sit in the Saints’ draft room for the first round. Spieth’s a huge football fan. “I’d never been in a war room before, and I was excited,” Spieth, three-time major winner, recalled last week.

Payton took the golfers on a tour of the facility. “We really like this Patrick Mahomes kid,” Payton told them. “He’s the steal of the draft. I’m not sure everyone knows that.”

But the Saints liked Ohio State cornerback Marshon Lattimore a lot, too—he was rated in their top three players overall—and if Lattimore got to the Saints’ pick at 11 in round one, Payton and GM Mickey Loomis would be thrilled. No way Mahomes and Lattimore would both be there, right? One other wrinkle: At one point, Drew Brees and a couple of Purdue friends walked in—they were going to watch the round, too. That created a bit of an awkward situation.

Spieth said: “Sean came up to us and said, ‘First time Drew’s ever shown up for the draft. He doesn’t know [about the interest in Mahomes]. So if it comes to it, I’m gonna have to tell him.’ “

Payton did tell Brees of the possibility long before the Saints’ pick; Brees, 38, was a pro about it. Still weird in there, though. The first round kicked off. One quarterback, Mitchell Trubisky, in the top eight. No corners. The draft was setting up perfectly for the Saints. Now Cincinnati was up at nine. Middling quarterback need with Andy Dalton in-house, coming off a 6-9-1 season. Big cornerback need. Bengals weren’t trading the pick.

The Saints waited. Nervously.

Some 850 miles to the north, another team waited. The front office, collectively, was more nervous. This team’s co-director of player personnel, who’d spent the 2016 college season chasing/monitoring/scouting a player still on the board, sat in the draft room at his computer. This computer had access to the league’s internal wire, which sent out the first notice of all picks that night. The personnel man pressed the “return” button over and over, refreshing the feed every few seconds.

“Time was standing still,” the personnel man said. “Seemed like the Bengals were on the clock for an hour.”

Return … return … return. Refresh … refresh … refresh.

Finally, a name for Cincinnati.

KANSAS CITY, MO – SEPTEMBER 15: Kansas City Chiefs linebacker Nick Bolton (32) talks with defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo in the fourth quarter of an NFL game between the Los Angeles Chargers and Kansas City Chiefs on September 15, 2022 at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City, MO. Photo by Scott Winters/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

Icon Sportswire/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images

Entering draft season in 2017, the quarterback class was weird. The two most accomplished and experienced players, Patrick Mahomes and Deshaun Watson, somehow got overtaken by a fairly meek one-year starter at North Carolina, Mitchell Trubisky. One of the problems with looking back seven years and seeing a player nine teams passed on, a player who might become the best quarterback ever to play, is that revisionist history dots the landscape.

So let’s go back to that off-season. Teams questioned Mahomes because he had malleable mechanics, because at Texas Tech there wasn’t much discipline to his wild-horse game, because Texas Tech had a lousy history of producing pro quarterbacks in the wide-open offense, and because Mahomes took lots of chances playing with a bad team. Basically, he was a formative Brett Favre. But there’d been a lot of those, and very few had had great pro careers—maybe only Favre.

Mahomes heard it all. As he wrote in the Players’ Tribune before the draft: “I am not a project quarterback. People who say that aren’t really watching my tape. I know that I can make any throw, especially when my team needs a big play.”

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2017 NFL draft: Mahomes says he can fit any system
Patrick Mahomes discusses his expectations for the 2017 NFL draft and explains why he is not a one-system quarterback.

2017 was about the time teams were changing rock-solid opinions about quarterbacks. Being mobile, throwing on the run, using your legs—those were becoming pluses. Peyton Manning was one year retired and Tom Brady nearing the end, and no longer did all teams think they were must-acquire prototypes. Starting with this draft, look at how many mobile players got handed teams over the next six years: Mahomes, Watson, Josh Allen, Lamar Jackson, Jalen Hurts, Justin Fields, Anthony Richardson, Kyler Murray.

But I remember the skepticism about Mahomes that spring, researching my mock draft. Not everywhere, but enough so that most people in the league thought there was no way he’d go in the top 10. Maybe 11, to New Orleans, or 13, to Arizona. But not top 10.

In the days before the draft, here’s where he landed in some mocks:

Don Banks: Mahomes, 13 to Arizona.

Mel Kiper: Mahomes, 25 to Houston.

Peter Schrager: Mahomes, 25 to Houston.

Peter King: Mahomes, 27 to Kansas City.

Todd McShay: Mahomes, 32 to New Orleans.

Mike Mayock: Mahomes, 32 to Arizona.

Why’d I have him going to Kansas City? I’d heard they loved his on-campus workout in Lubbock, Tex., heard they loved his visit to the KC facility, and heard he was making it known privately that Kansas City, with Reid and incumbent Alex Smith, was the place he really wanted to go. But did I know anything real? Absolutely not. Just took a shot, as happens with most mock picks.

What I did not know at the time: Kansas City’s director of football operations in 2016, Chris Ballard, wrote a pre-season scouting report raving about Mahomes as he entered his last year at Texas Tech. That got GM John Dorsey’s attention, and the attention of other football people in the building. Kansas City did a great job of keeping their interest in Mahomes quiet for the next eight months.

Back to round one … Lots of rumors as the first round went on. Biggest one: Cleveland might move up from 12 to 5—Tennessee’s pick—to pick Mahomes. Coach Hue Jackson told friends he loved Mahomes and Watson, but Mahomes a bit more. This rumor turned out to be more smoke than fire. Some Browns’ officials reportedly were turned off by his mechanics, and I don’t think they were ever close to pulling the trigger to move up for him. Ironically, they’d picked a quarterback 93rd overall the previous year, Cody Kessler, and chose DeShone Kizer 52nd overall in 2017. Then they probably over-drafted Baker Mayfield first overall in 2018. Cleveland was all over the map at quarterback.

But with Cincinnati on the clock, here’s how the next few picks looked:

10. Buffalo. New coach Sean McDermott wanted to rebuild the 7-9 team with picks, so this choice was for sale. A week before the draft, GM Doug Whaley had discussions with Dorsey, and they’d discussed the Bills moving down to KC’s pick at 27 and getting Kansas City’s third-round pick in 2017 and first-rounder in 2018. They agreed the day before the draft that if Kansas City’s player was there at 10, Buffalo would move down to 27, then get those third- and first-round picks. That’s the best offer Buffalo had on the table.

11. New Orleans. Needed a corner in Lattimore, if he was there. But both Payton and GM Mickey Loomis were smitten with Mahomes. Last week, Payton was chuckling as he said, “I remember thinking, ‘The only thing I don’t like about the player is his voice.’ That’s how great an impression he left on us.” Payton remembered something else about the visit to Lubbock when their time with Mahomes was up. “We were going straight to the airport. No stops,” he said. “I didn’t want a soul to know we were there. Sometimes you stop at Starbucks and the barista takes a picture and posts it, and it’s like, ‘Oh the Saints were in town—must have worked out Mahomes.’”

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Saints might get serious with QB prospect Mahomes
After the Saints organized a workout with Texas Tech quarterback Patrick Mahomes, Mike Florio discusses the potential future of Drew Brees.

12. Cleveland. Looking to dump out of the pick instead of picking Mahomes or Watson if either was there. Not a smart move, as it turned out.

13. Arizona. Frothing for Mahomes. “Worked him out in Lubbock, wind blowing probably 35 miles an hour,” Bruce Arians, then the Cards’ coach, remembered last week. “He whistled that ball through the wind like it was the calmest day in the world. One of the best quarterback workouts I’ve seen in my life. Maybe only Andrew Luck’s was better.”

Mahomes was not getting past Arizona. Hats off to my late friend Don Banks—he had it all the way. Almost.

—

The guy who kept refreshing the page was Brett Veach, at the time an underling to Dorsey. (But not for long; in June, the team dismissed Dorsey and promoted Veach to GM.) Finally, a name popped up on the encrypted NFL site, onto Veach’s screen:

Cincinnati: John Ross, WR, Washington

In Kansas City, Dorsey, who hadn’t told the Bills who they wanted, only that they’d call once Cincinnati picked if their guy was still available, got Whaley on the phone. “We still on?” Dorsey said. Yes, Whaley replied. They made the trade official. Both teams called the NFL trade hotline to independently confirm the terms. The draft was in Philadelphia that year, and Dorsey told the team rep there to write Mahomes’ name on a card and turn the card over on his table, then wait for further instructions.

In Metairie, La., home of the Saints, high-fives all around. Now the Saints knew they’d either be left with Mahomes or Lattimore, which led to euphoria in the room. They’d love either guy. Last week, in separate phone calls, Payton said he thinks they’d have taken Mahomes if both were there; Loomis said the same. Of course, that’s easy to say now, with Mahomes winning three Lombardis in his first six years playing. But I buy it.

In Arizona, the Cardinals had hope. They were three picks away from Mahomes.

Then, over the tinny speaker in every team’s draft room, there was an announcement from draft HQ in New York: There’s been a trade. Kansas City is trading with Buffalo. The Chiefs have the 10^th pick. The Chiefs are on the clock.

Spieth told me: “Right away, Sean said, ‘Watch. Andy Reid knows. He’s gonna take Mahomes.’”

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Andy Reid: Alex Smith knew we wanted QB
Kansas City Chiefs coach Andy Reid explains the thought process behind drafting quarterback Patrick Mahomes and how Alex Smith’s mindset hasn’t changed.

“Which,” Payton told me, “was really not bad for us, because we had a need for Marshon Lattimore, and he turned out to be a very good player for us.”

Veach had thought what he was going to say or text to Mahomes, who he’d gotten close to, and agent Chris Cabott, if the Kansas City was able to draft him. Veach and Cabott had talked for 94 straight days, and Veach knew Mahomes wanted to come to the team. Four reasons: stable offensive-minded coach, stable ownership, the chance to work with a mentor-type QB in Smith and the prospect of coming to a good (24-11 the previous two years) team with a strong base of talent.

So Veach, as Kansas City prepared to announce the drafting of Mahomes with the 10th pick, group-texted Mahomes and his agent the Texas Tech logo.

Then the announcement: Kansas City chose Mahomes 10th overall, with the pick just acquired from Buffalo.

Payton texted Dorsey a one-word expletive.

That’s the draft. Regret in New Orleans. Shock in Arizona. “I was stunned,” Arians said. “I figured they were a playoff team with a good quarterback in Alex Smith. I thought Pat was gonna fall to us.”

“Obviously, it worked out for us,” Veach said Friday night from Kansas City after leaving draft meetings at the team’s facility. No rest for the champions.

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Chiefs GM defends drafting Patrick Mahomes
Chiefs GM Brett Veach talks about his new role and defends selecting Patrick Mahomes despite having a veteran quarterback in Alex Smith.

All along, Kansas City figured it’d be smart to move ahead of New Orleans at 11. Trading to seven was out of the question (Chargers wouldn’t trade within the division); trading to eight with Carolina was impossible, because the Panthers were stuck on picking Christian McCaffrey if he was there. At nine, well, the Bengals had a history of keeping their high picks, and Cincinnati sent word it was staying put. That left number 10. Buffalo.

Said Veach: “I think a combination of a couple things worked in our favor. It’s not easy to move from 27 to 10. But Buffalo, at 10, just had a coaching change, and there’s a good chance they wanted picks to put some pieces together. Plus, what helped us is the teams that might have taken Pat were at 11, 12, 13, and so if we could get to 10, that seemed like a good spot to pick Patrick.

“Also, I think the element of surprise was working in our favor. I don’t think many people were expecting us to pick him.”

No one knew what Kansas City had, and the reviews on the pick were mixed. “Calling Mahomes a project is a major understatement,” USA Today wrote in its first-round draft grade. “He’s nowhere near ready to play in the NFL. And, honestly, he may never be.” The paper wasn’t alone. Anyone who says now that it was clear from the beginning Kansas City made a great pick is lying.

But there are three points I think are important to realize on the Mahomes story. One: Teams should listen to their scouts in the run-up to the draft. But if your coach has a quarterback pedigree, that coach has to be the dominant voice in the room. Why is he there if he’s not? Two: We all know now that what makes Mahomes Mahomes is his ethos. He’d cut off his left pinky to win. He’s the latter-day Brady in that way. And that is so, so important. Three: Kansas City drafted Mahomes with a rock-solid plan—sit behind Alex Smith in year one, soak in everything from a great tutor and good player, work on mechanics, learn the NFL. Mahomes would not play the first year—in fact, he started one late-season game, and that was it—and he was fine with that.

I’ve relayed this story a couple of time this fall, but it bears repeating, because this is what you want in your quarterback, in the leader of your team. I was in Frankfurt for NBC to see Kansas City struggle to a 21-14 win over Miami, with one of the TDs a defensive score. I spoke to Mahomes on camera on the field post-game for “Football Night in America,” and he told me: “We’re gonna get this offense figured out, I promise you, and we’ll be a hard team to beat.” Fine. In the locker room, I found Mahomes and fist-bumped him to say thanks for his time out on the field. Unprompted, he said: “Believe me—we will figure out this offense. No doubt in my mind.”

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Mahomes: Chiefs ‘will find a way’ on offense
Patrick Mahomes speaks to Peter King after Kansas City’s win against the Miami Dolphins, crediting the defense for their effort and discussing what is ailing the offense.

Did they? Somewhat. This season was Kansas City’s worst offensive output in the Mahomes era. The team’s 21.8 points per game was 15th in the league. That rose to 23.8 in the playoffs, but still—this was an offense that needed every last bit of greatness from Mahomes to win a third Super Bowl in the last five seasons. They got it.

—

Almost seven years later, what happened to each team that played a large or small part in the Mahomes draft-night story:

Buffalo retains one piece of the trade, cornerback Tre’Davious White. The Bills packaged extra picks to move up to choose wideout Zay Jones in 2017, then linebacker Tremaine Edmunds. Jones caught just 90 balls in three Buffalo seasons, while Edmunds played five effective seasons for the Bills before moving to Chicago in free-agency last year. The team got its franchise quarterback, Josh Allen, in the 2018 draft.

New Orleans got four more high quality seasons out of Brees before he retired after the 2020 season. If Mahomes got drafted here, would Brees’ Saints’ career have been cut short? We’ll never know. Lattimore, a four-time Pro Bowler, has given the Saints 90 quality games at corner, though he’s missed 17 games the last two years with injuries.

Cleveland could have had Watson 12th overall in 2017, but traded the pick to Houston and then had to pay a ransom in picks and guaranteed money to get Watson via trade in 2022; jury’s out on whether Watson will be the player the Browns paid for. The quarterback Cleveland picked instead, Baker Mayfield (first overall pick, 2018), had one very good year (and one huge playoff win at Pittsburgh), but his tenure fizzled after four seasons.

Arizona lost out on the quarterbacks in 2017 and picked a pass-rusher, Haason Reddick, who had one good year out of four with the Cards before leaving in free agency for Carolina. The Cards used the top pick in 2019 on quarterback Kyler Murray.

The teams at 7, 8 and 9—the L.A. Chargers, Carolina, Cincinnati—got their quarterbacks in the coming seasons, at or near the top of the draft: Justin Herbert (2020), Bryce Young (2023) and Joe Burrow (2020), respectively. Burrow’s been the best, clearly, but he’s also missed 13 games with injuries in his four years.

And the others that passed on Mahomes—Chicago, San Francisco, Jacksonville, Tennessee and the Jets—have had their share of quarterback misadventures over the past seven years. Drafting quarterbacks might be the most inexact science in all of sports. But the nine teams that passed on Mahomes on April 27, 2017, will remember the night for a long, long time.

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Chiefs’ Mahomes subtly trolls Bears in win
Chiefs QB Patrick Mahomes still hasn’t forgotten that he went 10th overall in the 2017 NFL Draft, behind Mitchell Trubisky, who he beat on Sunday Night Football.