Tuesday 1 May 2018 19:23, UK
If the Cleveland Browns did not select Oklahoma quarterback Baker Mayfield with the No 1 pick, the 2018 NFL Draft could have received a major shake-up courtesy of the New England Patriots.
Mayfield's agent, Jack Mills, said in an appearance on The Business of Sports with Andrew Brandt podcast that the Patriots had enough interest in the 2017 Heisman Trophy winner to consider trading up to the New York Giants' No 2 pick in order take the quarterback.
"We had another team which is going to surprise you. Another team had said, 'You may get a big surprise on draft day, at No 2, if he's available.' And it was the Patriots," Mills said.
"They had 23 and they had 31 and they had two seconds. We thought, 'That's going to be a heck of a move, to get up that high from where they are.'
"And of course he wasn't available, so we never knew if that was a reality or not."
The Giants went on to select Penn State running back Saquon Barkley at No 2.
General manager Dave Gettleman said he had no interest in trading the pick, but revealed on Monday during an interview with WFAN that he received "one very reasonable offer" for the pick from an unnamed team.
Mills said Mayfield wouldn't have slipped past No 3, as the New York Jets were "the bottom line".
"When he visited the Jets, they pretty much said you're our guy if you're there," Mills said.
The Jets selected USC quarterback Sam Darnold with the No 3 pick.
With their two first-round picks, the Patriots selected two Georgia products: offensive tackle Isaiah Wynn and running back Sony Michel. The team used a seventh-round pick to take a quarterback, LSU product Danny Etling.
The Patriots are in the market for a long-term successor to 40-year-old Tom Brady - who confirmed this week he wants to play for several more years - after trading Jimmy Garoppolo to the San Francisco 49ers last season.
