The Minnesota Vikings are nearly a season and a half into the J.J. McCarthy experience, and they still know just a minimal amount about him, as the second-year quarterback has played only eight quarters of regular-season NFL football.
But before McCarthy hurt his knee in August 2024, which caused him to miss his entire rookie year, and before he suffered a high ankle sprain in Week 2 that has sidelined him for the past three games of this season, the Vikings believed they knew enough of McCarthy and the rest of the QB class of 2024 to pursue Drake Maye out of North Carolina.
The New England Patriots held the No. 3 pick in that draft, while the Vikings started with No. 11. Albert Breer of Sports Illustrated reported on Tuesday, October 14, that Minnesota offered three first-round picks to the Patriots in order to move up and draft Maye as their QB of the future.
“The Vikings offered the Patriots the 11th pick, the 23rd pick and their 2025 first-round pick (along with Day 3 pick swaps that favored Minnesota) to go up eight spots to No. 3 and get Maye,” Breer wrote. “In the Vikings scenario, [the Patriots] could’ve gotten McCarthy or [Bo] Nix. And ultimately, they decided that Maye was better than those quarterbacks and the combination of draft capital they would’ve gotten after taking one of the other guys.”
Vikings Non-Committal About Bringing J.J. McCarthy Back Into Starting Lineup Over Carson Wentz
GettyQuarterback Drake Maye of the New England Patriots
Minnesota couldn’t have gone much stronger after Maye, given the draft capital the team had at its disposal at the time.
The Vikings’ interest in Maye and the team’s apparent reticence to insert McCarthy back into the lineup despite a full month to heal an ankle sprain begs real questions about how much rope the 22-year-old signal-caller actually has in Kevin O’Connell’s offense.
“I don’t necessarily want to put a percentage on where I think [McCarthy’s] at health-wise, O’Connell said during a media session October 13. “We’ve got to prepare to try to win a game on Sunday, and Carson [Wentz] as well, working with his left shoulder. He’ll practice as well. But we really want to get our team ready to go. And in the process of doing that, J.J. has his plan of attack that we want to try to make sure we maximize every single day and prepare all of our guys to be ready to go and make the best decision for our team.”
Wentz is 2-1 since taking over for McCarthy, while McCarthy started his season 1-1 before the injury.
Drake Maye Playing Like One of Best QBs in NFL Through 6 Games This Season
GettyNew England Patriots quarterback Drake Maye.
Meanwhile, Maye battled through a tough rookie season on a bad Patriots team, earning a 3-9 record while producing 2,276 passing yards, 15 TDs and 10 INTs across 13 appearances.
New England made big changes to the coaching staff, hiring Mike Vrabel to run the show this offseason, and things have changed quickly for Maye and the franchise.
Maye is 4-2 through six games in 2025. He has completed more than 73 percent of his passes for 1,522 yards, 10 TDs and 2 INTs. Meanwhile, the Patriots are leading the AFC East Division after Maye and company bested the Buffalo Bills on the road a couple of weeks back.
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