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New Orleans Saints
New Orleans Saints head coach Sean Payton stated during an NFL broadcast that Patrick Mahomes was the best college quarterback he'd ever evaluated. The Saints had the 11th pick in the 2017 NFL Draft, and he claimed that, if Mahomes was available, the Saints would have drafted him.
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Payton even went so far as to notify Drew Brees , their quarterback at the time and an absolute legend of the Saints organization, ahead of the draft that they were planning on taking Mahomes if he was still there when it was their pick. The Saints never got the opportunity, as the Kansas City Chiefs traded up to the 10th pick, one spot before the Saints, to steal him away.
Pittsburgh Steelers
The Pittsburgh Steelers were in the process of planning for their future beyond Ben Roethlisberger, who was nearing the last stages of his NFL career around the time of the 2017 NFL Draft. Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin admitted he interviewed Patrick Mahomes several times leading up to the draft as the organization was interested in potentially selecting him.
Patrick Mahomes was selected long before the Steelers were ever on the clock, but Roethlisberger continued to give them relatively successful seasons for the next five consecutive years. The Steelers finally moved on to the future during the 2022 NFL Draft when they selected quarterback Kenny Pickett.
Arizona Cardinals
Head coach Bruce Arians was still with the Arizona Cardinals ahead of the 2017 NFL Draft. He admitted that the Cardinals were planning on drafting Patrick Mahomes, but they were shocked when the Chiefs decided to take him instead because they still had Alex Smith on their roster.
Arians lasted just one more season in Arizona following the draft, where they felt they got robbed of their quarterback. Two years later, the Cardinals drafted Kyler Murray to be their future franchise quarterback.
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