Brett Veach sent teasing message to New Orleans Saints staff after drafting Patrick Mahomes

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The 2017 Draft is etched in the history of the Kansas City Chiefs. The event as a whole provides good stories that come and go for several years.

That year, Brett Veach had been promoted to general manager of the franchise, after five years already working within the team’s facilities.

It’s no coincidence that Veach was largely responsible for convincing the entire front office that Patrick Mahomes was the quarterback they needed. And just in his first year as GM.

However, until the organisation actually makes its choice in the Draft, there’s a lot of history…

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New Orleans Saints also wanted to draft Mahomes in 2017

The Chiefs traded with the Buffalo Bills to move up to the 10th pick, allowing Kansas City to choose Mahomes. But the New Orleans Saints were also directly impacted by this strategy devised by Veach.

Sean Payton and the Saints had a strong desire to draft Patrick Mahomes, but tried to keep their interest a secret until the day of the event.

Despite their efforts to hide their preference for the Texas Tech prospect, KC’s move had a major negative impact on the Saints, who missed out on the chance to acquire the current best QB in the NFL.

New Orleans ended up with Ohio State cornerback Marshon Lattimore with the 11th overall pick.

Albert Breer, from Sports Illustrated, provided some behind-the-scenes details that make the story even more exciting.

Veach’s ploy to trade up and select Mahomes

During an interview with ESPN’s Pat McAfee, Albert Breer delved into the gossip that NOLA’s front office was just waiting for the moment to grab Mahomes.

“Sean Payton was very, very high, as were all the Saints people, on Patrick Mahomes,” said.

What they didn’t know at the time was that Veach doesn’t mess around and he was already aware of their intention to draft Pat.

“They felt like the reason why they lost Patrick Mahomes that year is because word of their interest got out, and the Chiefs knew it. In fact, Brett Veach, who is the GM now (in Kansas City), was working in the personnel department then.”

Not only did the general manager negotiate with the Bills to move up and secure the signal-caller, but he also made a point of teasing the New Orleans staff.

“After they traded up with the Bills, texted, ‘Got him,’ to one of the Saints’ people, clearly showing them we knew you wanted him, and we’re coming and stealing him from you.” claimed Breer.

As a curiosity, this year Terry Fontenot, current GM of the Atlanta Falcons and former scout for the Saints, chose to keep the prospect they wanted to draft a secret and turned their attention to other players.

They really wanted the quarterback Michael Penix Jr. and nobody expected them to make this move, especially after giving Kirk Cousins a huge contract.

“So for the Falcons, Terry Fontenot, who came from the Saints, If we like one of these quarterbacks, we can’t tell anybody. We’ve got to sit there at eight and pretend that we’re taking Dallas Turner or Byron Murphy or Malik Nabers or someone else.”

Fontenot learnt his lesson in 2017 and would not allow himself to feel robbed once again.

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