Giants GM tried to ‘plant the seed’ to trade with Patriots at NFL Draft after Drake Maye interview

Drake Maye left quite the impression on the New York Giants during his pre-draft interview that they had interest in trying to trade up to select him. During the second episode of HBO’s “Hard Knocks,” coach Brian Daboll described formations, plays and Giants lingo that Maye quickly picked up on.

“Den dolphin right 72, tundra, float H-angle,” Daboll said to Maye. “Yeah, so tundra stands for what?”

“Two unders,” Maye replied to the coach.

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Maye, who was ultimately drafted by the New England Patriots, continued to impress during the conversation as he picked up on the lingo and even called it “easy stuff” as he was writing on the white board.

The way the quarterback seamlessly came in and crushed the interview left a positive mark on not just Daboll, but general manager Joe Schoen to the point that he wanted to trade with the Patriots to likely draft the North Carolina product.

“I’m just going to go down there and say ‘hey’ before you do anything at three, just make sure you let us know,” the GM said. “Just plant a seed if you are going to move the pick. Don’t do it without at least giving us a call. We’re interested.”

The Patriots admitted before the draft that they were open to trading the No. 3 pick if they had a deal they couldn’t turn down. New England ended up keeping the pick and taking Maye as it begins a new era of football in Foxboro with a new quarterback and a new coach in Jerod Mayo.

The Giants, meanwhile, filled a need of their own and drafted wide receiver Malik Nabers with the No. 6 pick.