While the New England Patriots knew they were going to make the pick at No. 3 overall and take North Carolina quarterback Drake Maye, that didn’t stop other teams from trying to move up.
According to the MMQB’s Albert Breer, the Patriots received trade offers for their first-round pick from the Minnesota Vikings and New York Giants. Breer reports that the Vikings offered both of their firsts in 2024 (Nos. 11 and 22) a first in 2025 and pick swaps that favored Minnesota. New York offered just the sixth overall pick this year and a 2025 first.
It was reported before the draft that New England wasn’t looking to trade out unless they got a monster deal, and apparently, neither of these offers met what they would’ve considered.
With the Patriots needing a quarterback more than any other position, they read the board right. If they had swapped with the Giants, they would’ve been left with Michael Penix (who went eighth to the Atlanta Falcons), J.J. McCarthy (who went 10th to Minnesota) and Bo Nix (who went 12th to the Denver Broncos) as their best options. If they had swapped with Vikings, only Nix would’ve been left.
