Thursday, April 27th, 2017, is the night Buffalo Bills fans wish they could get back.
That night, the first round of the NFL Draft took place, and nobody knew what would happen after the first pick.
Cleveland sat with the number one selection, taking Myles Garrett, a defensive end from Texas A&M.
Usually, the first overall pick is a quarterback, but the 2017 quarterback class didn’t seem strong at the top.
North Carolina’s quarterback Mitchell Trubisky was the first quarterback taken by the Chicago Bears second overall.
Trubisky seemed to be the favorite among many draft analysts as the number one quarterback in the class.
The Bears took their franchise quarterback, thinking he would lead them to places they haven’t been in decades, leaving the Texas Tech gunslinger Patrick Mahomes and Clemson’s Deshaun Watson on the board.
Mahomes Goes to Kansas City
With his elite arm talent, Mahomes was the most exciting quarterback in the class. Watson, who had just defeated Alabama in the college football title game, quickly became a fan favorite.
At the time, it seemed like the Clemson star would be the first quarterback drafted, and his college head coach even compared him to the greatest basketball player of all time, Michael Jordan.
“I’m just telling you, if they pass on Deshaun Watson, they’re passing on Michael Jordan,” Swinney said. “I’m just telling you. I don’t know what the heck I’m talking about; I’m just an old, funky college coach. But Deshaun Watson is the best, by a long shot.”
When the draft reached the 10th pick, the Buffalo Bills were sitting there, and just like many drafts before, they needed a quarterback.
Instead of taking either Mahomes or Watson, the team traded back to the 27th pick with the Kansas City Chiefs, and the rest is history.
We all know what happened. Kansas City took Mahomes and launched one of the best dynasties in NFL history.
The Bills took their quarterback Josh Allen in 2018, and he’s just as good as Mahomes, but what if Buffalo never traded with the Chiefs that April night?
The Bills Started The Chiefs Run
Say the Bills didn’t want Mahomes or Watson and never traded the pick away. Buffalo would’ve grabbed a non-quarterback, and the next team up was the New Orleans Saints with the 11th pick.
The Saints were getting ready to take Mahomes. Former Saints head coach Sean Payton pointed out this several times, but the Chiefs destroyed those plans by trading with the Bills.
If New Orleans had drafted Mahomes, the NFL would have looked much different, and the Saints might have added another three Super Bowl rings to their collection.
Mahomes being in The Big Easy means he’s in the NFC, and Buffalo would’ve never had to deal with him in the playoffs.
Who knows, Allen could’ve been the AFC version of Mahomes and gone to a handful of Super Bowls.
Instead, Buffalo is the victim of their wrongdoing.
It’s bad enough the Bills traded away a chance at Mahomes, but it’s even worse that he’s been the guy standing in the way of Buffalo making the Super Bowl three times in the last five years.
Now, the Bills will have another chance of surpassing the superteam they created and attending their first Super Bowl since 1994. If they fail again, everyone can reflect on that spring night in April 2017.
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