NFL Trade Rumors: New England Patriots Turned Down Huge Offers for 3rd Overall Pick

The New England Patriots better be sure they got their man. According to ESPN's Mike Reiss, the Patriots turned down trade offers for the third overall pick of the 2024 NFL Draft from the Minnesota Vikings and New York Giants that included multiple first-round picks.

Three visits, two trade offers and no surprises: How Drake Maye became the Patriots' future https://t.co/T8jWDY4Ryg pic.twitter.com/DWm7Lkxy05
— ESPNBoston (@ESPNBoston) April 30, 2024

Per Reiss, the Vikings offered their 11th overall pick, 23rd overall pick, and their 2025 first-round pick in exchange for the Patriots' third overall pick and a couple of middle-round picks. Meanwhile, the Giants offered the sixth overall pick and their 2025 first-round pick.

In all likelihood, all three teams coveted the same player: North Carolina quarterback Drake Maye. Ultimately, the Patriots selected Maye with the third overall pick. The Giants landed LSU wide receiver Malik Nabers with their sixth overall pick. The Vikings executed a trade up to the 10th overall pick to take Michigan quarterback J.J. McCarthy, and traded up again to the 17th overall pick to select Alabama linebacker Dallas Turner.

Quarterback prospects, even at the top of the draft, are a crap shoot. Maye sports rare physical tools, including a solid frame (6'4" and 223 lbs) and underrated mobility (1147 rushing yards over his final two seasons). If he emerges as the NFL's next great quarterback, he'll be worth all those trade offers and more. Yet if the Patriots can't provide a system in which he can succeed, they could come to regret missing out on a chance to multiply their resources. The Patriots drafted quarterback Mac Jones in the first round in 2021; he's already off the team. If Maye is going to succeed, the Patriots have to be careful and learn from their mistakes.