Patrick Mahomes extension: How did teams pass on him in 2017?

The Patrick Mahomes extension shattered the record books.

The tenth overall selection in the 2017 NFL Draft, the Patrick Mahomes extension he just signed a massive 10 year extension with the Kansas City Chiefs. The new contract begs the question: how are the nine teams that passed on Mahomes doing now?

The football world has been craving some breaking news to interrupt the silence that COVID-19 has imposed on all of sports. And boy did the world get it. On Monday, the Kansas City Chiefs signed their star quarterback, Patrick Mahomes, to a 10-year extension worth a whopping $450 million, with additional incentives that can push the value to $503 million in total worth. In addition, his contract has a $140 million injury guarantee and a no-trade clause. Mahomes is essentially a Chief until 2031.

The Super Bowl winner, and half-billion dollar man, is the quarterback that got Andy Reid his first Super Bowl title. He’s a quarterback with only two seasons as a starter on his resume, but accrued 5000 passing yards and 50 passing touchdowns in his first full season as a starter and now a Super Bowl championship in his second. Mahomes was an impeccable draft pick by the Chiefs, but he fell all the way to tenth overall.

Provided by Pro-Football-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 7/8/2020.

How nine teams passed on a rare talent at quarterback is something. The NFL Draft is an intense process because things like this can happen. And, most certainly, those nine teams are kicking themselves at the thought that Patrick Mahomes could’ve played for them. How are those teams doing now? How have they lived with the harsh reality of not only losing out on Mahomes but actively ignoring him by not selecting him? We investigate the fallout from what’s now a huge draft blunder.

First overall: Cleveland Browns

The Browns, at the time, were still in the league’s gutter. They were in the midst of the horrid Hue Jackson era, a head coach who was considered one of the more brilliant offensive minds in the league. And the Browns owned a versatile quarterback room with ageless wonder Josh McCown, a former 2016 third round pick in Cody Kessler, and signed Robert Griffin III in what was considered a fresh start for “RGIII” after his time in Washington.

But Griffin was hurt in his very first game with the Browns, derailing his season. While the young Kessler showed ability in relief, he wasn’t considered a franchise passer by many. They completed the 2016 season with a single victory, finishing 1-15 to secure the top pick for the 2017 NFL Draft. Griffin was then released in March.

Heading toward the 2017 NFL Draft, the Browns conducted a trade for former Houston Texans quarterback Brock Osweiler and took on his $16 million left in his contract. Funny enough, the trade was made with the intention of NOT giving Osweiler a chance to start. They, instead, released him, owing him the $16 million, but obtained a second round pick from the Texans. Essentially, the Browns went into the draft with Kessler as the incumbent starter but an open mind on quarterbacks.

With the first overall selection in the 2017 NFL Draft, the Cleveland Browns selected EDGE Myles Garrett. While the Browns hit a home run with this pick, considering Garrett is one of the top edge rushers in the league today, they still missed out on Patrick Mahomes.

The Browns instead selected Deshone Kizer in the second round to compete with the incumbent Kessler. Long story short, the Browns went winless, and both Kizer and Kessler are currently free agents without a team. Fortunately for Browns fans, the team landed on its feet by picking current starting quarterback Baker Mayfield with the top pick in 2018 and enter a new era today with Kevin Stefanski at head coach.

Second overall (TRADE): Chicago Bears

The Chicago Bears entered the 2016 season with John Fox at the helm and suffered back to back seasons with double-digit losses. Jay Cutler was the long-tenured starting quarterback that was nearing his end with the team. Despite a resurgence in play the year before, Cutler battled injuries throughout the 2016 season. The team finished 3-13, making it three straight years of double-digit losses and being last in the NFC North. After Cutler survived two coaching changes from Lovie Smith to Marc Trestman and then Trestman to Fox, the Bears cut the veteran quarterback.

All that was left was a desperate franchise and fan base hoping to find a savior under center, to replace and possibly surpass everything Cutler did for Chicago. Finishing with the third overall selection in the 2017 NFL Draft, Chicago was in the driver’s seat.

Eventually, the Bears traded up one spot to secure the second overall pick from the San Francisco 49ers. They decided to make Mitchell Trubisky the first quarterback off the board in a draft that had both Patrick Mahomes AND Deshaun Watson. Now, Trubisky is actually competing for his starting spot with newly acquired Nick Foles and in the ultimate sign that Chicago is ready to move on from Trubisky, they declined his fifth-year option. It’s safe to say that picking Trubisky was an all-time level blunder.

Third overall (TRADE): San Francisco 49ers

The 2016 NFL Season

The San Francisco 49ers’ 2016 season was a crazy one to remember. Then head coach Chip Kelly, ran out of Philadelphia before, lead the Bay Area team to a wildly subpar record at 2-14. He was promptly fired, along with former GM Trent Baalke. But more than that, the franchise was in the spotlight over how they handled the Colin Kaepernick protest. With all of the controversy, and horrid play by the team, Kaepernick eventually opted out of his contract, leaving the team devoid of a starting caliber QB. They were in prime position to find the next face of the team. They didn’t.

2017 NFL Draft

With the new year came a new era. New GM John Lynch took over the reins and hired Kyle Shanahan to lead the team. At third overall, after orchestrating their minor trade back, the team selected Solomon Thomas. Thomas was a highly-touted and versatile defensive lineman prospect and a building block in what is now a fearsome defensive front. But while the team has enjoyed success in recent years, Thomas hasn’t lived up to the hype, with only 6 career sacks in three seasons. On top of that, the team had to trade for Jimmy Garoppolo. Imagine if they had just picked Patrick Mahomes?

Fourth overall: Jacksonville Jaguars

The 2016 season was a disaster for the Jacksonville Jaguars, ending the year with a 3-13 record. Finishing 25th in the league in terms of offensive scoring, the team lacked any quality threat on the roster outside of then top receiver Allen Robinson. And while the defense could seriously hold up, finishing sixth in the league in total defense, Blake Bortles was not elevating the offense to new heights as a former top ten selection should.

The Jags decided to take Leonard Fournette. At the time, he was widely considered a promising star that could carry the weight of an offense the way scouts saw Ezekiel Elliott the year before. Unfortunately, that wasn’t close to being accurate, and running backs aren’t as coveted a position to draft highly, let alone top five. Mahomes was there, but the team was loyal to a fault with Bortles, who is no longer on the roster.

Fifth overall (TRADE): Tennessee Titans

Another AFC South team made the same mistake. The Tennessee Titans were an interesting team to pass on Patrick Mahomes, particularly because of their 2016 season. They finished 9-7, middle of the pack in terms of league standings, and technically had the 18th overall selection. But the team had also acquired the fifth overall selection through a previous 2016 trade with the Los Angeles Rams (which led to Jared Goff).

The Tennessee Titans also had Marcus Mariota, their second overall pick from the 2015 NFL Draft. Mariota was an extremely promising and highly regarded prospect coming out, so it made sense for the team to stick with him leading into only his third year. Injuries also affected his play, so the team no doubt believed he could shake what was deemed bad luck. To top it all off, Corey Davis was considered by many the clear, top receiver in the draft and a guaranteed top ten selection. But to think the Titans could’ve chosen Patrick Mahomes with this pick! Or even use their immense draft capital to move up to secure him too. What could’ve been for Tennessee.

Sixth overall: New York Jets

Yet another team that interestingly passed on Mahomes. The New York Jets were coming off of a poor season performance by starting quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick and the team obviously needed new direction. Instead of opting for Mahomes, the team selected Jamal Adams.

Don’t get me wrong, the Adams pick was a marvelous one. Jamal Adams has consistently been one of the best defenders in all of football. However, the Jets decided to place their starting quarterback job in the hands of the aforementioned Josh McCown. Considering this and the fact that Jamal Adams and the Jets seem destined for a divorce, not grabbing Patrick Mahomes may haunt this team if current QB Sam Darnold doesn’t live up to his hype.

Seventh overall: Los Angeles Chargers

The former San Diego team had just finished their final year there and were officially returning to Los Angeles for the 2017 season and beyond. With star quarterback Phillip Rivers on the team still performing sufficiently, it made sense for the Chargers to ignore the quarterback position in some ways. But considering the talent Mahomes possesses, ignoring his selection as heir to the starting quarterback job is brutal.

Instead, the Chargers were hungry for an electric playmaker to be the first pick of their newly minted LA return. Keenan Allen was their surefire weapon, so adding Mike Williams, the big target out of Clemson, seemed to make sense. He’s just eclipsed 1000 yards for the first time in 2019 and boasted an astounding 20.4 yards per catch average. While he’s played admirable ball during his tenure there, Williams is a far cry from what Mahomes is. The Chargers may be one of the teams not kicking themselves as much as the previous teams.

Eighth overall: Carolina Panthers

Here’s another team that may not be as hurt to have lost out on the Patrick Mahomes sweepstakes. The Carolina Panthers still had a talented quarterback in Cam Newton after they finished a rather down season in 2016. Heading into 2017, the focus for then coach Ron Rivera was to add playmakers around Newton so he didn’t have to shoulder the offense by himself. Christian McCaffrey has been just that for the Panthers too.

A true playmaker, McCaffrey has been a swiss army knife of a player. He’s eclipsed a 1000 total yards from scrimmage every year of his career, with last season being his best by far. McCaffrey finished with 2392 yards from scrimmage, and notched a 1000 yards rushing and receiving. He finished first-team All-Pro. After signing his own extension this off-season, he’s proving to be a fantastic pick. Still, he’s a running back, and to ignore the value that Patrick Mahomes brings was logical because of Newton, but questionable due to his position.

Ninth overall: Cincinnati Bengals

Little has to be said about this selection. The Cincinnati Bengals were the final team to pass on Patrick Mahomes.

At the time, they were still believing in Andy Dalton and also wanted to supply him with weapons. Instead, however, they fell in love with measurables and over drafted the record holder for the NFL Combine forty yard dash. John Ross has blazing speed, so there was hope he’d form a potent triple threat with AJ Green and Tyler Boyd. But Ross has done anything but.

In 19 total starts, he’s amassed only 716 receiving yards to 10 touchdowns. Much of this can be blamed on his extensive injury history. He missed all of 2015 in college, had shoulder surgery before being drafted in 2017, then lost his most of his rookie year to a lingering knee issue. Even worse, he almost broke out this season but suffered through a potential life-threatening injury. It’s safe to say that Mahomes value in Cincy could have replaced Andy Dalton sooner, who is now in Dallas.

Patrick Mahomes finally comes off the board

Every team had their logic at the time for passing on Patrick Mahomes, but his massive extension after a Super Bowl victory highlights the risk of draft picks and the tricky nature of team draft processes.

The NFL Draft is a truly exceptional phenomenon to understand. Teams grind for an entire year to analyze film, stare down statistics, interview sources and digest the stock of prospects. Even the media has jumped into the annual foray, with many platforms holding their own opinions and exhaustive studies on players. But in the end, it can be anyone’s guess as to what players will succeed. The 2017 NFL Draft epitomized that.

While Patrick Mahomes is now considered the best quarterback in the league today and is, at minimum, a supremely rare talent at the position, the teams who passed on him almost feel this pain two fold. That’s because all nine passed on him and Houston Texans quarterback Deshaun Watson, who Houston selected two picks later.

The rhyme or reason for two clear talented prospects to fall down the board can be anything. But it highlights just how wild the NFL Draft can be and how stunning the results of those drafts can become.