For most of the pre-draft process, it felt like the 2024 NFL Draft was truly going to get started with the Patriots at No. 3 overall. While the Bears and Commanders were locked into their picks, New England was reportedly a bit more open to listening to trade offers to possibly move down. De facto general manager Eliot Wolf even noted that they had received calls. However, in the end, no offer rose to the magnitude to pull them off the third pick, which ended up being UNC quarterback Drake Maye.
As Sports Illustrated reports, both the New York Giants and the Minnesota Vikings did make the Patriots offers for No. 3. Earlier in the week, the Vikings offered No. 11 and No. 23 in this year's draft while also adding its 2025 first-rounder with pick swaps favoring Minnesota. That offer ticked up when the Patriots were eventually on the clock. As for the Giants, they offered No. 6 overall as well as their 2025 first-rounder.
Those are some hefty prices, but the Patriots decided to stay put. In fact, part of the reason for not trading out of the opportunity to select Maye was because the Vikings and Giants were in hot pursuit of the UNC product. The fact that Kevin O'Connell and Brian Daboll were both after the same quarterback reportedly emboldened the Patriots to make the pick and reap the rewards of getting Maye for themselves.
Both O'Connell (a former Patriots draft pick) and Daboll (a coach who won five Super Bowls with the organization) are two familiar and respected faces to New England, so it doesn't come as too much of a surprise to see that their interest in Maye carries weight throughout the front office.
Maye now comes to Foxborough as the latest piece in what has been a transformative offseason. The club has hired Jerod Mayo as the successor to Bill Belichick and has Wolf currently leading the personnel department. Maye serves as the key on-field pillar to what the club hopes is their bounce back towards returning to playoff contention.
