Getty Image / Gregory Shamus
Last night’s first round of the 2024 NFL Draft was crazy! A record six quarterbacks went in the first round, all in the first twelve picks, and there were five trades, as well.
It was nearly even crazier, as the New York Giants and Minnesota Vikings made big offers to the New England Patriots for the third-overall pick that ultimately was used to select UNC quarterback Drake Maye.
Thats’s according to reporting done by Sports Illustrated’s Albert Breer.
“The Minnesota Vikings and New York Giants did make offers to the New England Patriots for the No. 3 pick to take Drake Maye. Earlier this week, Minnesota offered the Nos. 11 and 23 picks, and its 2025 first-rounder, with pick swaps favoring the Vikings as part of the proposal; and that offer ticked up with New England on the clock. The Giants, meanwhile, did wind up putting their 2025 first-round pick in their offer to move from No. 6 to No. 3,” Breer said.
The New York Giants ended up staying put at no. 6 and picked LSU WR Malik Nabers. Meanwhile, the Minnesota Vikings moved up from 11 to 10 in a trade with the Jets to take Michigan quarterback JJ McCarthy.
These were two pretty big offers the New England Patriots turned down, and I don’t think people would’ve faulted them for taking either. New England’s roster has a lot of holes, and extra first-round draft capital could’ve gone a long way into plugging those holes and helping the team eventually return to Super Bowl contention.
I do think the Vikings deal might have been a little too far for New England to move down. But, the Giants proposal does ultimately make a lot of sense. Only moving down three spots to get a 2025 first-round pick of a team that should not be very good next year is an intriguing proposition.
Ultimately, the Patriots are betting that Drake Maye is their next franchise quarterback and will get them back to the winning ways the franchise enjoyed in the first twenty years of the 2000s.