How Patrick Mahomes almost prematurely ended the career of a future Hall of Fame QB
Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes almost prematurely ended the career of future Hall of Fame quarterback Drew Brees. And Mahomes wasn't even in the NFL yet. According to an excerpt from Pro Football Talk's Mike Florio, the New Orleans Saints were prepared to draft Mahomes at No. 11 in the 2017 NFL Draft. Brees, […]
Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes almost prematurely ended the career of future Hall of Fame quarterback Drew Brees.
And Mahomes wasn't even in the NFL yet.
According to an excerpt from Pro Football Talk's Mike Florio, the New Orleans Saints were prepared to draft Mahomes at No. 11 in the 2017 NFL Draft.
Brees, of course, was still the Saints' starting quarterback at the time.
But Saints head coach Sean Payton loved Mahomes. And he was going to take him, until the Chiefs traded up to take Mahomes with the No. 10 overall pick.
To make things even more awkward, Brees was actually in the room when the Saints decided they were going to take Mahomes if he fell to No. 11.
I mention this eleven days before the official publication of Playmakers because, in a recent interview with GQ.com, Payton told the story of how the Saints were seriously considering drafting Mahomes, with Brees and friends entered the draft room just in time to see it happen.
“You can’t make this up,” Payton told Clay Skipper of GQ.com. “He had never been in a draft room in how many years. I said, ‘Hey, there’s a good chance we’re taking Patrick Mahomes and it’s not gonna impact [you]. You’re going to finish, retire, whatever. But we might draft Mahomes here and I just want to let you know.’ He’s like, ‘Oh yeah, all good.'”
Brees ended up playing for four more seasons. But there's no way that would've been the case if Mahomes had been on the roster — Payton wasn't going to sit on a generational talent like Mahomes just to allow Brees to ride off into the sunset after the 2020 season.
I'm guessing Brees would've either retired early or finished his career with another team.
Of course, none of that matters because the Chiefs were smart enough to trade up for Mahomes.
But it's still wild to think about how history could have been altered.
Featured image via Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports
