Patrick Mahomes is now the richest man in the NFL who doesn’t own a team. According to a report by Adam Schefter at ESPN, he’s agreed to a 10-year deal with the Chiefs that is worth at least $400 million and will include a percentage of the salary cap.
Now is probably an awkward time to remind fans that the Panthers had a chance to draft Mahomes back in 2017, but they chose to pick a running back instead. Even though Christian McCaffrey has blossomed into the best back in the NFL, every team that passed on Mahomes is going to look pretty bad as long as he’s the league’s best quarterback.
To recap, the first nine picks of that year’s draft were as follows:
No. 1: Browns – DE Myles Garrett
No. 2: Bears – QB Mitch Trubisky
No. 3: 49ers – DE Solomon Thomas
No. 4: Jaguars – RB Leonard Fournette
No. 5: Titans – WR Corey Davis
No. 6: Jets – S Jamal Adams
No. 7: Chargers – WR Mike Williams
No. 8: Panthers – RB Christian McCaffrey
No. 9: Bengals – WR John Ross
With the next pick, Kansas City landed their franchise quarterback of the future. It only took him two years to lead them to a Super Bowl and score the most lucrative contract in the history of the NFL.
It’s tough to fault the Browns and the Jets for making the picks they did. Both Garrett and Adams should continue to dominate at their respective positions for a long time. However, unless Baker Mayfield and Sam Darnold both ball out in 2020 those two teams could be looking for another quarterback as soon as the next draft.
The Bears naturally take the hardest hit here, as they traded up for the privilege of taking Trubisky, who turned out to be the worst starter in the league. The 49ers also whiffed pretty hard on Thomas at No. 3. The Jaguars also have to be feeling pretty foolish, as they got the far inferior running back in Fournette compared to McCaffrey.
Speaking of which, McCaffrey is a special talent and at the time Cam Newton was just one season removed from winning the MVP award, so Carolina can only get so much blame for passing on Mahomes. That said, even the best running back in football isn’t nearly as valuable as a quality QB.
Hats off to Andy Reid and the Chiefs, who appear to be on the cusp of the next great dynasty in the NFL.
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