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Pro Golfer Ryan Palmer was in the New Orleans Saints draft war room on Friday night, according an interview with WDSU’s Fletcher Mackel. That’s not the interesting part, however, as Palmer said that Texas Tech’s Patrick Mahomes was on the team’s radar at the 11th pick.
“Just watching the phone calls coming in and the deals trying to be made, deciding who they wanted, I think they were really big into Mahomes,” Palmer said at the Zurich Classic.
VIDEO: After Friday's second round at @Zurich_Classic @RyanPalmerPGA gave us insight into #saints draft war room. Mahomes almost to NOLA. pic.twitter.com/iLDPGmXaql
— Fletcher Mackel (@FletcherWDSU) April 28, 2017
Palmer added that the room was filled with excitement with having Marshon Lattimore fall to them, which ultimately ended up being the team’s 11th overall pick.
“You could see the excitement in all their scouts eyes, coach Payton’s eyes, it was pretty cool for us.”
Mahomes was a clear favorite of Sean Payton, as he led a private workout at Texas Tech in late March. Payton said early in April that the quarterback class was pretty good, and that the Saints would ‘absolutely’ consider drafting a quarterback as early as the first round if they felt the value was right.
The Kansas City Chiefs ultimately swooped in to take Mahomes at 10th in a trade with the Buffalo Bills. The Chiefs gave the Bills a third-round pick and their 2018 first-round pick for jumping up 17 spots.