Well, that would have been something. Just before the Patriots did the expected thing and selected North Carolina quarterback Drake Maye with the No. 3 overall pick, team insider Tom E. Curran of NBC Sports Boston revealed an interesting piece of information that was widely overlooked in the NFL.
Before choosing Drake Maye as their future quarterback, the Patriots reportedly checked with the Chargers and new coach Jim Harbaugh to see if they were interested in pairing Harbaugh with his Michigan star quarterback, JJ McCarthy. The Patriots could have had McCarthy if they had the No. 3 pick. Chargers All they had to do was offer Justin Herbert to the Chargers in exchange for McCarthy.
All they’d have to do is give up star quarterback Justin Herbert in the mix.
As Curran said on NBC Sports Boston: “JJ McCarthy has been talked up by Jim Harbaugh, ceaselessly throughout this draft process. The Patriots, I have on good authority, said, ‘You know what, let’s just call the Chargers and see if they’ll trade straight up, we’ll take Justin Herbert, you guys can have JJ McCarthy.’ The Chargers said, ‘No, we’re not gonna do that.’”
So Herbert stays in Los Angeles and Maye heads to New England. The Chargers ended up selecting Notre Dame lineman Joe Alt with the No. 5 pick.
Justin Herbert Is in Exclusive 5,000-Yard Club
Adding Herbert would have been a significant shakeup, not only for the Patriots but for the AFC as a whole. Herbert was limited to 13 games because of injury last year, but he established himself as a top-flight NFL quarterback in 2021, when he earned a Pro Bowl spot and threw for an incredible 5,014 yards on 672 pass attempts.
Herbert is one of only nine quarterbacks in NFL history to throw for 5,000 yards in a season. He just turned 26 in March, making him only a little less than three years older than the No. 2 pick in this year’s draft, LSU’s Jayden Daniels.
Herbert signed a five-year, $262.5 million contract extension with the Chargers in July of last summer, a deal that is tacked onto his fifth-year option, which starts this season. He will make $19.4 million in 2024, as part of a deal that scales all the way up to $71 million in 2028.
It’s a big payout, but Herbert is one of the most exciting young quarterbacks in the league. It’s little surprise that the Patriots, nor any other team in the league, was able to pry him away from the Chargers, even with McCarthy on the board.
Patriots Get Their Man in Drake Maye
As for Maye, the Patriots had been dropping hints in recent weeks that, though they were willing to entertain offers to trade back from the No. 3 pick, they were intent on selecting the best quarterback they could get, and it that meant sticking with their original pick.
There’s no guarantee that Maye, who is just 21 years old, will be the starter from the get-go, with veteran backup Jacoby Brissett also on board. But it is clear that the Patriots still need to get Maye a top-notch weapon at wide receiver.
And Curran hinted that perhaps the Patriots would be willing to spend on trading for one of the many pass-catchers who want new contracts—Tee Higgins and Courtland Sutton among them.
They were ready to accept Herbert’s contract, which shows they might be willing to pay a lot for a receiver who wants to be traded, Curran pointed out.
“It shows that the Patriots are very willing to spend money,” Curran commented.
