Report: It Would Take More Than Three Firsts For Patriots To Trade No. 3 Pick

NBC Sports’ Tom Curran reports that it would take an enormous offer to get the Patriots to trade the No. 3 pick at this point. 

Curran explains the Patriots have reached a consensus that either LSU QB Jayden Daniels or North Carolina QB Drake Maye have potential as future high-level starters, and one of them will be available when they pick at No. 3. 

To pass on a potential franchise starter, Curran says the Patriots would need more than the precedent of three first-round picks that’s been set for major trades up in the draft in recent years. 

“What I’m hearing in terms of ‘the bag’ that Jerod Mayo referenced last week, what kind of currency do the Patriots need to see coming to them? And I keep circling back to it’s gotta be three first-round picks, meaning Minnesota at 11, and 23 and their first-round pick from next year.”

“From what I’m hearing, it’s going to take a lot more than that for the Patriots to be moved off their spot. Because they as a team collectively understand the opportunity that these three quarterbacks represent at the top of the draft — take McCarthy out — these two quarterbacks, whether it be Daniels or Maye.”

“This isn’t Trey Lance and Zach Wilson. It’s two people that there is full consensus that they’re franchise quarterbacks.”

Curran doesn’t rule out a team like the Vikings being desperate enough to surrender that kind of haul and moving the Patriots off the pick but reiterates that New England is going to be asking for the moon. 

“So regardless of what I’ve been saying, I’m giving you a sense now of what the Patriots’ mindset might be,” he said. “It would take an unbelievable amount to move them off their spot. Not that they couldn’t be, but it would take them a lot to move out of three because they see it right there in front of them. The hardest thing to capture is there.”

New England has done extensive work on this current quarterback class, hosting most of the top prospects for official visits and spending considerable time with them during pro days and private workouts. 

The team signed veteran QB Jacoby Brissett but it’s clear he’s just a placeholder until someone else is ready, potentially a rookie drafted with the No. 3 pick. 

We’ll have more on the Patriots and their plans with the No. 3 pick as the news is available.