The New England Patriots had options to trade the No. 3 overall pick, right up until several hours before the 2024 NFL draft, but it would have taken "something crazy" to get them to move out of the spot that eventually netted North Carolina Tar Heels quarterback Drake Maye.
Credit the New York Giants for at least trying. They wanted to make it happen in the worst of ways. It just would have taken a "pretty significant" package for the Patriots to even flinch. And by significant, they meant a Ricky Williams-style cupboard of picks.
General manager Joe Schoen called the Patriots at 3:32 p.m. ET on the afternoon of the draft's first round and offered the Giants' first-round pick (No. 6 overall), a first-rounder in 2025 and another pick this year. It was not even close to enough.
Patriots executive vice president of player personnel Eliot Wolf didn't flinch when presented with that offer. His reasoning? The Patriots needed a quarterback!
Here's how the conversation played out on the latest episode of "Hard Knocks: Offseason with the New York Giants."
Schoen: "You guys still listening [to offers]? You guys still making a decision? What do you think?"
Wolf: "I think we're pretty happy with sitting here picking. But, again, if you offer us [your first, second and third-round pick] this year, [your first and second-round pick] next year .... I mean, I'm exaggerating. But it's going to be something crazy like that."
Schoen: "It would probably have to be pretty significant. So, like a [first-round pick] this year [obviously No. 6 this year], a [first-round pick] next year and something more this year is not going to do it? It's got to be multiples in '25?"
Wolf: "Um, we're in this situation where we just probably sit and pick a quarterback."
Schoen: "Well if anything changes and you wanted to add something on that to take a swing, let me know."
And with that, the Giants' dreams of landing one of the top three quarterbacks were gone. They also liked Jayden Daniels enough to trade up for him, but the LSU quarterback was a lock at that point to go No. 2 in the draft to the Washington Commanders.
So the Giants pivoted to finding a playmaker for quarterback Daniel Jones. They had contingency plans in case wide receivers Marvin Harrison Jr. and Malik Nabers were selected fourth and fifth. But as it panned out, New York took Nabers as the sixth overall pick out of LSU. Hardly a consolation considering he was the top-ranked wide receiver, according to wide receivers coach Mike Groh.
It goes to show that the Patriots were never really going to trade out of the top three because nobody would have conceded what they were asking for. ESPN's Mike Reiss described it throughout the process as only an "unprecedented deal" would entice Wolf and New England.
The Giants were monitoring the process for months. In a previous episode of Hard Knocks, Schoen was shown walking over to the Patriots suite at the NFL scouting combine and telling Wolf to "keep me in mind" if they were going to make a trade.
New York now has to massage the situation and make Jones -- the current and oft-injured starter -- feel wanted. Jones' contract allows the organization a reasonable out after this season, should they be so inclined to pivot in that direction.
It's hard to imagine the Giants passing up that option given that they've already looked at finding Jones' potential replacement. It could be an interesting and likely awkward year in New York with both parties knowing this happened and it being broadcast for the world to see.