Today, Baker Mayfield is firmly entrenched as Cleveland's quarterback of tomorrow.
In another reality, though, the former Oklahoma star might have wound up in Foxborough as the heir apparent to the 40-year-old Tom Brady.
Mayfield's agent, Jack Mills, revealed that Patriots officials told him New England was considering a trade all the way up to No. 2 if the quarterback was still on the board.
Mills shared this scenario in a post-Draft edition of "The Business of Sports with Andrew Brandt" podcast.
"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 ESPN. "They had (No.) 23 and they had (No.) 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 a reality or not."
Mills also weighed in on the Jets, saying that Gang Green called Mayfield "our guy if you're there" when New York picked at No. 3 overall. Instead, the Jets were thrilled to wind up with USC's Sam Darnold.
"They did send Josh McDaniels to Austin just to go talk to Baker Mayfield," Rapoport told NFL Network. "And this is kind of what the Patriots do: Make sure they're ready for all situations. What if he fell to five, six or seven, would they make a move? They had two first-round picks, they were ready to come up. I also think Josh Rosen might have tempted them if he had gotten a little bit closer, maybe 14, 15 or 16.
"In the end," said Rapoport, "none of that happened."
UPDATE: NFL Network's Mike Garafolo reported on Up to the Minute that the Pats told Mayfield there was a shot they'd up to select him in order to persuade him to go to New England for a visit.
Garafolo said the Pats actually trading up to No. 2 was never "really close to happening," adding that Giants general manager Dave Gettleman was also not going to give up the second overall selection.
