Patriots

Patriots reportedly rejected two major trade offers for Drake Maye 

"That Kevin O’Connell and Brian Daboll were the head coaches interested, only emboldened New England to stay put.”

By Conor Ryan

April 26, 2024

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The Patriots stood firm and didn’t move their No. 3 pick on Thursday — opting to take a potential franchise quarterback in Drake Maye.

But with several other QB-needy teams on the prowl, it seems like Patriots de-facto GM Eliot Wolf had several intriguing offers on the table before sticking with Maye. 

According to Sports Illustrated’s Albert Breer, the Patriots rejected offers from both the New York Giants and Minnesota Vikings — which included 2025 first-round picks — that were submitted in order to try to trade up to No. 3 and select 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,” Breer wrote. “The Giants, meanwhile, did wind up putting their 2025 first-round pick in their offer to move from No. 6 to No. 3. Ultimately, nothing came close to moving the Patriots off their choice.

“In fact, that Kevin O’Connell and Brian Daboll were the head coaches interested, only emboldened New England to stay put.”

Both deals would have landed New England a significant haul — with a deal with the Giants that included the No. 6 pick still putting the Patriots in a position to take another QB like J.J. McCarthy. 

But based on both Jerod Mayo and Wolf’s comments on Thursday, it does seem like the Patriots regarded the top-three quarterbacks in this draft class — Caleb Williams, Jayden Daniels, and Maye — in a different tier above other signal-callers like McCarthy or Michael Penix Jr. 

“The more exposures we had with Drake, the more comfortable we felt,” Mayo said. “Honestly, not to talk about other players, but those top three guys, we were comfortable with all three of those guys, and it just happened to be Drake, and he’s definitely — he has a lot of potential. We have a lot of coaches, and we have to develop him.”

Wolf acknowledged that the Patriots were still receiving offers in the lead-up to the No. 3 pick, but Maye’s potential was tough to pass on. 

“We had some conversations with other teams, but ultimately, we felt like Drake was the player that we wanted and we had the opportunity to get him,” Wolf noted. “The trade offers, I don’t say they were constant, but there were different points throughout the process where there were trade (proposals), but all along we knew we were in a unique opportunity here to get a quarterback that we liked, and we were obviously able to do that.”