In 2017, the New Orleans Saints had the 11th overall pick in the NFL Draft. The Kansas City Chiefs traded up from 27th overall, along with a third-round pick and its 2018 first-rounder for the Buffalo Bills’ 10th pick. They drafted Patrick Mahomes with the pick, right before the Saints had a chance.

It’s no secret at this point that New Orleans — and former Saints coach Sean Payton specifically — wanted Mahomes. New Orleans coach Dennis Allen was the team’s defensive coordinator at the time.

“We’re sitting in the draft room and Drew (Brees) was in the back of the draft room which was just kind of a coincidence,” Allen said Thursday. “And we’re sitting there like, ‘We’re gonna take (Mahomes) if he’s there at our pick. And so I think everybody was kind of a little excited, little nervous at the same time. Kansas City obviously felt the same way that we did and moved ahead of us and took him.”

Mahomes was “the best college quarterback I’ve ever recruited”, according to Payton. He and other Saints assistants flew to Lubbock to work out Mahomes at Texas Tech. Payton was “blown away” by Mahomes during the workout.

“Then you’re trying to stealth out of the airport (after the workout) with no one seeing you, not stopping at a coffee shop, not getting any picture taken,” Payton said on Good Morning Football in 2021. “You’re just onto the next school like we didn’t even go there.”

New Orleans ended up drafting Marshon Lattimore with the 11th pick. The Ohio State product won Defensive Rookie of the Year and is now a four-time Pro Bowler.

“We’re extremely pleased with the player that we got,” Allen said. “He’s been a really good player for us.”

For a few minutes in New Orleans 2017 draft room, having Mahomes as the team’s answer once Brees retired felt like a reality. Over seven years later it’s just a distant “what if”, that’ll be brought back up on occasion. This time that occasion is facing the three-time Super Bowl winner and two-time MVP on Monday Night Football.