Maye was one decision away from heading to this NFC team.
With all the narratives surrounding Super Bowl LX, this one could fly under the radar as we anticipate kickoff.
Patriots' 2024 third overall draft pick, and potential 2025 MVP-winner Drake Maye, could have been a Minnesota Viking.
Yeah, you read that right.
All of this is coming out shortly after the Vikings fired their general manager, Kwesi Adofo-Mensah. Who would have thought that in a parallel universe, the Patriots saying yes to Mensah's offer for Maye in the 2024 draft could have saved his job down the road?
According to reports, NFL Insider Albert Breer learned that the Vikings offered multiple 2024 picks to the Patriots, plus their 2025 first-round pick, for Maye. The Vikings would go on to trade up from the 11th spot to the 10th to get J.J. McCarthy from Michigan.
The Patriots apparently never budged on Maye. They knew they had their guy and were holding onto him for dear life as the third overall pick.
The Vikings would go on to give their pick to the New York Jets, along with a fourth- and a fifth-round pick. Hearing this makes you wonder if this was also just another complicated way the Patriots were sticking it to the New York Jets, too.
In the end, McCarthy didn't play his first season in Minnesota due to injury. Maye did, in such a way that showed many glimmers of hope to Pats fans. Only a new coaching staff was needed, which led owner Robert Kraft to fire Jerod Mayo and bring in Mike Vrabel and Josh McDaniels.
McCarthy has proved in this phase of his career that he's not living up to the standards in Minnesota. Maye is about to play in a Super Bowl in his second season. Comparisons can sting, but it is what it is.
There's another thing at play here. While McCarthy was injured. The Vikings would have had Sam Darnold get them to the playoffs last season, then let him walk and eventually sign with the Seahawks. Now, Maye and Darnold are the two quarterbacks left in the NFL right now in the days leading up to Super Bowl LX.
Darnold and Maye both joined teams that were in rebuild mode. McCarthy inherited a team that went 14-3 with receivers like Justin Jefferson and Jordan Addison to throw to.
It's wild to think that if the Patriots had said yes to the Vikings' trade offer back in the spring of 2024, they might be scouting another potential QB1 right now.
Instead, they have one more game to play this season.
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