Daniel Jeremiah Links Maye to Vikings, McCarthy to Patriots in NFL Draft Trade Rumors

In the final hours before the start of the 2024 NFL draft, NFL Network's Daniel Jeremiah threw out a wild rumor that would get Drake Maye to the Minnesota Vikings and J.J. McCarthy to the New England Patriots.

According to the scenario presented by Jeremiah, the Vikings would trade up to No. 3 for Maye and the Patriots would get the fourth pick from the Arizona Cardinals for McCarthy.

The Cardinals would trade back up to get the fifth selection for Marvin Harrison Jr., leaving the Los Angeles Chargers in the 11th spot.

The Patriots at No. 3 looks to be the first major pivot point in the draft. They appear to be targeting Maye, with The Athletic's Chad Graff and Dianna Russini noting they view him "as a close-to-ideal fit for the offense they want to run."

Graff and Russini's report also mentions New England's front office "has discussed a plan" in the event Maye is off the board when its pick comes up:

"If Maye goes No. 2, the Las Vegas Raiders (who have the 13th pick) may get aggressive in trying to move up for LSU quarterback Jayden Daniels, who has a good relationship with Raiders coach Antonio Pierce. That could result in a bidding war between the Raiders and Vikings that leads to an offer the Patriots feel they can't turn down."

The Vikings have picks at No. 11 and 23 this year to entice teams as they consider potential trade-up options.

Minnesota has been linked to McCarthy at times throughout the pre-draft process, but Yahoo Sports' Charles Robinson noted the team could be content to stand pat and take Bo Nix with one of those two first-round picks rather than attempt to move up if Maye isn't available.

The Cardinals are in a great position because they could stay where they are to take Harrison, who is B/R's No. 1 overall player in the draft, but they're also in position to add more picks by moving down if a team is desperate to move up for a quarterback.

Arizona already has 11 picks in the 2024 draft, including two in the first round and six of the top 90. If general manager Monti Ossenfort decides to move down and move back up, which happened last year, he's got more than enough capital to pull off a deal and still come away with a deep group of talented players.

The third pick appears to be the spot when all of the drama in the draft is going to start.