In late March 2017, Saints coach Sean Payton sent Patrick Mahomes an installation of plays, something of a study guide for the following day.
The next morning in Lubbock, Texas, Payton tested Mahomes, a meeting to measure how quickly Mahomes had processed the information. They progressed to an on-field workout before finishing with a conversation over Mexican food.
With Drew Brees already on the roster, the Saints weren’t much in need of a quarterback, not one projected to go in the first round anyway.
And then they met Mahomes.
“I remember getting on our owner’s plane thinking, ‘Man, that was as good of a quarterback evaluation as I’ve had in my time in the NFL,’” Payton said.
Mahomes has since literally concluded a Super Bowl parade in downtown Kansas City and figuratively led the march for one. He’s the youngest player in NFL history to match the regular season most valuable player honor with its Super Bowl version.
But he was this close to wearing a Saints uniform instead. You see, when the Chiefs make the trip to New Orleans on Sunday, a slight alteration in history would have made this Mahomes’ first game ever against the Chiefs.
If you were to stop reading after that last sentence, well, who could blame you?
This is fantasy.
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‘ANDY DECIDED FOR US’
The Mahomes workout commenced a unique week for Payton. His next stop was in Knoxville, Tennessee, where he worked out running back Alvin Kamara. Payton continued on to Columbus, Ohio, where he met with cornerback Marshon Lattimore.
“Man,” Payton said, “I’m a roll here.”
The Saints had the 11th overall pick, and they graded Mahomes and Lattimore among the top players in the draft class. As the opening round of the 2017 NFL Draft progressed, they removed names of selected players from their board.
Nine players gone.
Only two remained in the Saints’ top bubble: Lattimore and Mahomes.
“Then that discussion takes place,” Payton said. “There’s two parts to it. When you have a quarterback, there’s the part of (who) you will help the team right now, which is Lattimore. Or there’s the future. And back and forth. And when it got to (number) nine, and nine was selected, we knew we were getting one of the two.
“And then Andy decided for us.”
With the Saints waiting at No. 11, the Chiefs pounced at 10.
Not by coincidence. While not mentioning specific teams, then-Chiefs general manager John Dorsey said he had a feeling which other teams might be interested in Mahomes. And five days earlier, he began the blueprint for a potential trade with the Bills for No. 10.
The Chiefs relinquished two first-round picks and a third-rounder.
“Once that trade happened,” Payton said, “I said, ‘There goes Mahomes.’”
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‘CRAZY HOW STUFF WORKS OUT’
Chiefs general manager Brett Veach had first spotted Mahomes on film, and he nagged Dorsey and head coach Andy Reid about him daily.
Dorsey drove to Iowa State to watch Mahomes in person, and he saw one of the worst games of Mahomes’ career. The infatuation, though, grew. He liked the competitiveness. He admired Mahomes playing through an injury.
Mahomes had not been projected in the top 10 of many mock drafts. The Chiefs, however, thought they had found their future, even with Alex Smith still on the roster.
But they weren’t the only ones.
Then-Cardinals coach Bruce Arians later said they were ready to draft Mahomes at No. 13. And a few weeks before the draft, Payton conducted a workout that changed it all. He thought.
The interests were unknown to one another.
Unknown to Mahomes, even.
“With the Saints, I didn’t sense (their interest) as much,” Mahomes said. “I know I definitely had a good workout. But I didn’t sense that they were going to pick me, obviously with Drew still being there and the success that he still had to this day.”
The two teams had identified the same traits. Mahomes’ ability to make off-schedule throws popped on the tape. And his ability to retain information popped in meetings.
They walked away with similar reactions. Veach has called Mahomes the best player he has ever scouted — said it before he’d ever started a game.
Payton? Same thing.
“I felt like it was the best quarterback I had I had ever seen on tape in a workout,” Payton said. “I had done a lot of them to that point. You name it. I just thought he had that rare ability, and there was going to be a ton of upside. Man, he was real good in the meeting room. He processed the information extremely (well) — all those things you can’t see on video. That was just my instincts. I didn’t know for sure.
“But when the draft comes, you begin to think, ‘Well, there’s gotta be someone else that sees what I see.’”
And he had a slight inkling who else it might be. In fact, when the Chiefs made the trade for the 10th pick, even as Clemson quarterback Deshaun Watson remained on the board, Payton just knew.
“When they made that move, my gut told me,” Payton said. “Look, I’ve always respected Andy. It was one of those where I don’t know how many people had the grade on Patrick that we had. But I thought Andy clearly would have with his background at the quarterback position. He would’ve seen, I think, the same things.”
The conversation in the Saints’ war room became easy. They selected Lattimore, a pick they’ve been plenty content with. And Brees, though currently injured, has led the Saints to a 28-7 record over the past three seasons.
They never had to make the difficult decision.
But what if?
“It’s just crazy how stuff works out,” Mahomes said.
