Were the Patriots really prepared to trade up to No. 2 to get Baker Mayfield?

Baker Mayfield’s agent Jack Mills knew his client would go no lower than No. 3 in the 2018 NFL Draft. But in a podcast with Andrew Brandt, Mills said the Cleveland Browns and New York Jets weren’t the only potential landing spots.

Mills said the New England Patriots were interested in trading for the No. 2 pick to take Mayfield.

“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 told Brandt, via Pro Football Talk. “They had 23 and they had 31 and they had two seconds. We thought, ‘That’s gonna 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 reality or not.”

New England’s need for a quarterback was, and still is, obvious. Tom Brady will turn 41 in August and the only other passer on the roster was Brian Hoyer, a 32-year-old journeyman. The Patriots added LSU’s Danny Etling in the seventh round, but it’s unlikely that he’s the team’s quarterback of the future.

Going after Mayfield would’ve made a lot of sense. The problem is it would’ve been extraordinarily expensive to make the deal happen.

New York Giants general manager Dave Gettleman told WFAN that the team received a “very reasonable offer” for the No. 2 pick. But otherwise, he wasn’t interested in being thrifty:

To drop all the way to No. 23 in the draft order, it’s safe to assume the Giants would’ve wanted a ton. Even a package of the No. 23, 31, 43, and 63 picks that the Patriots entered draft night with may not have been enough, and New England probably would’ve needed to dip into their 2019 draft picks.

It’s also possible the conversation with Mayfield’s agent didn’t mean a thing. After all, the Patriots gave every indication they were interested in Louisville’s Lamar Jackson but passed on taking him with either the No. 23 or No. 31 picks.

Mayfield in New England would’ve been fascinating, but there’s not much reason to think it was actually close to happening.