The New England Patriots faced one of the defining decisions of their rebuild when they went on the clock with the No. 3 pick in the 2024 NFL draft.
Two years later, the price they turned down to stay there — and the quarterback another team desperately wanted — has come into sharper focus.
ESPN’s Kevin Seifert reported on Sept. 18 that Minnesota Vikings coach Kevin O’Connell “pushed hard” to move from No. 11 to No. 3 for Drake Maye. New England refused the offer and selected Maye, leaving Minnesota to later move up one spot for J.J. McCarthy at No. 10.
That decision has aged well for New England. Maye developed into one of the NFL’s top quarterbacks in his second season, while Minnesota has already moved McCarthy down its depth chart.
Vikings Were Willing to Pay a Huge Price for Drake Maye
The Vikings did not view the 2024 quarterback class as one group, according to Seifert. ESPN reported Minnesota placed Caleb Williams, Jayden Daniels and Maye in its top tier — quarterbacks the organization believed could elevate a roster and were worth surrendering additional draft capital to acquire.
J.J. McCarthy, Michael Penix Jr. and Bo Nix were placed in a second tier and viewed as prospects who would need more support around them.
That distinction mattered once the draft began.
O’Connell wanted Maye badly enough to make a serious push for New England’s pick. ESPN reported in 2024 that Minnesota was willing to send the Nos. 11 and 23 selections, plus a 2025 first-round pick, to the Patriots for No. 3 and two mid-round selections.
New England stayed put.
The Patriots had already determined that Maye belonged among the quarterbacks they were comfortable building around. NFL.com reported after the draft that the team had settled weeks earlier on Williams, Daniels and Maye as its preferred group and would move down only for an overwhelming return.
Minnesota’s package did not change that calculation.
The early return made the decision look increasingly significant. After showing promise as a rookie, Drake Maye exploded in 2025, completing 72.0% of his passes for 4,394 yards, 31 touchdowns and eight interceptions. He led the NFL in passer rating, completion percentage and yards per attempt, earned second-team All-Pro honors and finished second in MVP voting, via his Patriots bio.
Patriots’ Decision Looks Even Bigger After McCarthy Twist
The latest reporting heightens the past because Minnesota’s fallback plan has gone in the opposite direction.
The Vikings selected McCarthy after failing to pry Maye away from New England. ESPN reported that Minnesota believed McCarthy might require multiple years of development, but circumstances eventually pushed him into action sooner than planned.
By September 2026, O’Connell had demoted McCarthy to the Vikings’ No. 3 quarterback after Kyler Murray won the starting job.
ESPN reported that Minnesota’s coaching staff struggled to solve McCarthy’s accuracy problems and speed up his decision-making. His 2025 performance contributed to the Vikings falling out of postseason contention with five regular-season games remaining.
Drake Maye, meanwhile, helped lead New England to Super Bowl LX during his breakout 2025 season. His 2026 opener against the Seattle Seahawks was rough — 178 passing yards, one touchdown and three interceptions in a 13-10 loss, via NFL.com — but one game does little to change the broader trajectory established during his first two seasons.
The larger takeaway from ESPN’s new report is how close New England came to a radically different future.
The Patriots had a chance to exchange Maye for a haul of premium picks. O’Connell’s push shows Minnesota saw the same upside in Maye that New England did.
The Patriots decided the quarterback was worth more.
Patriots Rejected Vikings’ 3-First-Rounder Package for Drake Maye: Report