A new report from Thursday night revealed that the New England Patriots and Minnesota Vikings allegedly checked in about a trade for arguably the best young quarterback in the league and they were both met with the response you would expect.
Heading into Round 1 of the 2024 NFL Draft, the goal for both the Vikings and Patriots seemed the same: Find a young signal-caller with franchise QB potential. For weeks, both organizations were the source of speculation about which players they could take and potential trades in the opening round of the event.
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Following night one of the event, both teams achieved their goals. With the third overall pick on Thursday evening, the New England Patriots selected potential-rich North Carolina QB Drake Maye, while the Minnesota Vikings moved up a spot to land 2023 national championship-winning passer JJ McCarthy.
However, before they drafted the players they wanted — probably — it seems that both franchises actually made shocking calls about a mammoth trade for the best young QB in the game today.
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New England Patriots and Minnesota Vikings reportedly made push for a non-starter Justin Herbert trade
“In recent weeks, both the Patriots and Vikings reached out to the Chargers to see if they had any interest in trading QB Justin Herbert, per league sources. The answer was, very quickly, ‘A flat no,'” ESPN NFL insider Adam Schefter revealed yesterday.
Obviously, all teams reach out about potential trades and some of them can be for very unavailable players. However, this one is a bit ridiculous. Herbert is reportedly one of the biggest reasons why new head coach Jim Harbaugh finally left Michigan for a return to the NFL earlier this year. It wouldn’t make very much sense to trade him now, no matter how much he loves his former QB JJ McCarthy.
Since joining the league in 2020, Herbert has thrown for 4,300 or more and 25 or more touchdowns every season except for his injury-shortened 2023 season.
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