Patrick Mahomes is Former Cardinals GM's Biggest Regret

Former Arizona Cardinals general manager Steve Keim has plenty of regrets when reflecting back on his tenure, which ended following the 2022 season.

None are bigger than barely missing on future Hall of Fame quarterback Patrick Mahomes, who was taken with the 10th overall pick in the 2017 NFL Draft. The Cardinals were picking at No. 13 and were eying the Texas Tech product.

"There are a few things that I regret about my time with the Cardinals, and that was No. 1," Keim said during an interview with Mr. Az.

"I regret the fact that I didn't follow through with what I told the owner I would do, which is trade up to get Patrick Mahomes. But I will say this, he was one of my favorite players I ever scouted, and to this day it still haunts me that we do not have Patrick Mahomes as our quarterback. It's all on me, I can promise you that. Sorry to all of the Arizona Cardinals fans, I apologize. I really screwed that up."

Full clip:

Dinner with former GM Steve Keim! pic.twitter.com/hU8k99U4WW
— 🌵 Mr. Az (@MrAzSports) May 27, 2026

The Chiefs moved up from the No. 27 pick to take Mahomes three spots ahead of Arizona, who ended up taking linebacker Haason Reddick.

The following season, Arizona drafted Josh Rosen before 2019 welcomed Kyler Murray. Now, entering 2026, the Cardinals are without both while Mahomes has pieced together one of the best careers in the game.

Of course, there's plenty of other factors that have played into Mahomes' success. Having him sit behind Alex Smith and learning under Andy Reid was ideal while weapons such as Travis Kelce and Tyreek Hill certainly helped, too.

Still — there's a bit of a sour taste watching Mahomes thrive while the Cardinals are still in the NFL's basement of teams. They haven't won a division title since 2015 and have missed the playoffs the last four seasons.

Keim isn't the only former prominent Cardinals figure to covet Mahomes, as then head coach Bruce Arians has been fairly vocal about wanting Mahomes in previous interviews.

“I was stunned,” Arians told Peter King back in 2024. “I figured they were a playoff team with a good quarterback in Alex Smith. I thought Pat was gonna fall to us.”

Arians later added he watched Mahomes' workout in Lubbock ahead of the draft on a windy day with gusts blowing upwards of 35 mph.

"One of the best quarterback workouts I’ve seen in my life. Maybe only Andrew Luck’s was better.”

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