Rumor Has it the Vikings are Going All in to Land Drake Maye. Go On. I'm Listening ...

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In every sport there are periods on the calendar in which listening the rumors is a form of self-abuse. (And not the fun kind.) Each come with a certain stretch of days and weeks that are a minefield that need to carefully navigated. Because truth is the first casualty of war. Everyone has an agenda. And between the agents, the teams, reporters going for clicks, and the dummy accounts just looking to trick some sap into stupidly taking the cheese on some trap they set just for the laughs, there's trouble afoot in all directions. And to believe anything you hear until it's confirmed? That way lies madness. 

But once in a while a rumor comes along that can't be ignored. Because it gets repeated so often, and because it's utterly believable. And such a rumor has been presented in the last few days. One that checks every plausibility box, whether it comes to fruition or not. And it was born out of this trade:

As a result, the Vikings are now sitting on the 11th and the 23rd pick. And no one with any credibility in the proud tradition of America's Football Punditry industry thinks Minnesota plans on stopping there. Practically without exception, they believe there's a much bigger endgame in the works:

I could go on, but the point's been made. Having established how often this one is being repeated, let's dive in on how believable it is. To me it works on so many levels:

• The Vikings QB coach is Josh McCown, who coached Maye in high school.
• Head coach Kevin O'Connell is fruit off the Sean McVay tree, who would naturally want a solid, big-bodied pocket passer with a powerful arm like Maye.
• Minnesota has the assets in place to pull this deal off.

I bring all this up not because I'm remotely invested in what the Vikings do. But because I'm heavily invested in what their most likely trading partner will do. Namely:

• A trade with the Vikings makes sense for the Patriots.

To be clear, it's far from a no-brainer for Eliot Wolf and Jerod Mayo. And for sure, a move down from No. 3 is going to cost a hell of a lot more than Minnesota's two 1st rounders. If they don't immediately include next year's 1st as well, The Wolf should immediately hang up and click "Block this caller" and "Report as spam." The going rate for a move up from 11ish to No. 3 was established by the 49ers three drafts ago. Anything less than three 1st rounders is the kind of insult that, in a more civilized age, would've resulted in a glove across the face and pistols at dawn. 

To repeat, it's not a no-brainer though. There's a lot to consider. For one, the 2025 draft class is not considered to be a strong one for quarterbacks. 

Second, though this is not a universally popular opinion, there is a considerable drop off from Maye, Caleb Williams and Jayden Daniels. There's a growing legion of JJ McCarthy stans across the land. But if you can find evidence of his strong suits being anything beyond his intangibles, I'm all ears. Whatever indefinable qualities of leadership he showed at Michigan, they didn't convince Jim Harbaugh to let him throw the ball on 3rd & long on his own half of the field. The general consensus is that McCarthy, Michael Penix, Bo Nix and the rest are projects. The kind of QB you take a late Round 1 or early Round 2 flyer on if you've already got an established offense with talent all over the place. That is definitely not the case in Foxboro.

Which in a sort of counter-intuitive way, makes the idea of sending Maye to Minnesota all the more intriguing. Believe me, I hate the idea of going another year without a true QB1 to call our own. But the needs of this roster go way beyond just that one spot. The idea of having four 1st rounders in the next two seasons is hard to pass up. And the fact that you'd have two 1sts in this draft speaks to my need for instant gratification after wandering in the wilderness lo these many years. (Five, to be precise). 

Some of the most talented rosters this franchise has ever had were born out of multiple Round 1 picks. Most recently 2012 when they picked up Chandler Jones and Dont'a Hightower. But going all the way back to the '70s when they had five in a two-year span, and added Mike Haynes (Hall of Fame), Pete Brock, Tim Fox, Stanley Morgan (Top 10 all time in YPR), and Raymond Clayborn (team Hall of Fame). 

Granted, this rumored trade would only kick the can of finding a QB1 down the road. But with proper scouting and development, it could add a ton of talent to a roster in desperate need of it. And turn the franchise around faster than putting a 22 or 23-year-old under center. Force the Vikings to throw in a 2025 3rd rounder just for shits and gigs the way the Dolphins did to San Fran in the Trey Lance trade, and I think Minnesota has itself a deal.