First overall pick Baker Mayfield’s agent, Jack Mills, has floated a real doozy of a trade rumor regarding the New England Patriots and the New York Giants who owned the second overall pick. Mills said on Andrew Brandt’s podcast that the Patriots were prepared to trade up to the second overall pick if Mayfield was available. There is only one problem with Mills’ statement, the Giants were not a willing trade partner.
Of course this is all moot. The 2018 NFL Draft is over and Mayfield is the next quarterback that the Cleveland Browns will lay their hopes and dreams on. Still, it is interesting that Mils is even floating this. He said, “We knew that the Jets [who owned the third pick] was the bottom line. We had another team that said, ‘You may get a big surprise on draft day at No. 2 if he is available.’ And that team was the Patriots.”
The Patriots owned two first round picks in this draft, the 23rd and 31st overall selections. Neither one would have been enticing enough for the Giants to move out of the second pick. Giants’ GM Dave Gettleman was convinced that running back Saquon Barkley is the real deal. Gettleman has been quoted as saying he didn’t even consider trades. He wasted no time submitting his draft card either. The Giants’ pick was in before Roger Goodell even announced Baker Mayfield was a Brown.
The Patriots might have wanted Mayfield. They may have said they would have tried to trade up to get him but a trade takes two willing parties and the Giants were obviously not a willing party. They wanted Barkley. The Giants might have been able to get better offers from the Buffalo Bills, Denver Broncos, or a couple of other teams had they entertained the idea of trading the second pick. They didn’t. The Giants picked Barkley for better or worse. Sure, one could argue the Giants would have been wiser to trade down and acquire more picks considering all of the holes the Giants have on their roster. But they didn’t and Barkley is now a Giant.
The reality is Mills is speculating. He might have heard the Patriots wanted to trade but they can want all they desire. It wasn’t going to happen. The Giants were holding onto that pick even if Mayfield didn’t go first overall. That’s the reality regardless of what Mills is trying to float.