Well, that would have been something. Just before the Patriots did the expected thing and drafted North Carolina quarterback Drake Maye with the No. 3 overall pick, team insider Tom E. Curran of NBC Sports Boston dropped a fascinating little nugget that went widely overlooked around the NFL.

Before going with Drake Maye as their quarterback of the future, the Patriots apparently felt out the Chargers and new coach Jim Harbaugh on their excitement level over the prospect of pairing Harbaugh with his Michigan star quarterback, JJ McCarthy. The Chargers could easily have had McCarthy if they possessed the Patriots’ No. 3 pick.

All they’d have to do is give up star quarterback Justin Herbert in the mix.

As Curran said on NBC Sports Boston: “JJ McCarthy has been talked up by Jim Harbaugh, ceaselessly throughout this draft process. The Patriots, I have on good authority, said, ‘You know what, let’s just call the Chargers and see if they’ll trade straight up, we’ll take Justin Herbert, you guys can have JJ McCarthy.’ The Chargers said, ‘No, we’re not gonna do that.’”

So Herbert stays in Los Angeles and Maye heads to New England. The Chargers wound up taking Notre Dame lineman Joe Alt with the No. 5 pick.

Justin Herbert Is in Exclusive 5,000-Yard Club

Adding Herbert would have been a significant shakeup, not only for the Patriots but for the AFC as a whole. Herbert was limited to 13 games because of injury last year, but he established himself as a top-flight NFL quarterback in 2021, when he earned a Pro Bowl spot and threw for an incredible 5,014 yards on 672 pass attempts.

Herbert is one of only nine quarterbacks in NFL history to throw for 5,000 yards in a season. He just turned 26 in March, making him only a little less than three years older than the No. 2 pick in this year’s draft, LSU’s Jayden Daniels.

Herbert signed a five-year, $262.5 million contract extension with the Chargers in July of last summer, a deal that is tacked onto his fifth-year option, which kicks in this season. He will make $19.4 million in 2024, as part of a deal that scales all the way up to $71 million in 2028.

It’s a big payout, but Herbert is one of the most exciting young quarterbacks in the league. It’s little surprise that the Patriots, nor any other team in the league, was able to pry him away from the Chargers, even with McCarthy on the board.

Patriots Get Their Man in Drake Maye

As for Maye, the Patriots had been dropping hints in recent weeks that, though they were willing to entertain offers to trade back from the No. 3 pick, they were intent on selecting the best quarterback they could get, and it that meant sticking with their original pick.

There’s no guarantee that Maye, who is just 21 years old, will be the starter from the get-go, with veteran backup Jacoby Brissett on also board. But it is clear that the Patriots still need to get Maye a top-notch weapon at wide receiver.

And Curran hinted that perhaps the Patriots would be willing to spend on trading for one of the many pass-catchers who want new contracts—Tee Higgins and Courtland Sutton among them.

The fact that they were willing to take on Herbert’s contract, Curran noted, is a sign they would be open to writing a big check for a receiver that wants to be traded.

“That does indicate that the Patriots are more than willing to go out and spend the dough,” Curran said.