As Wayne Gretzky and Michael Scott both said, you miss 100 percent of the shots you don’t take.
And in this case, this meant the Patriots and Vikings both checking to see if the new Chargers regime would consider trading franchise quarterback Justin Herbert, according to ESPN.
The Chargers rejected both, leading to the domino effect of the Patriots grabbing Drake Maye with the No. 3 pick on Thursday in the 2024 NFL Draft, and the Vikings trading up for J.J. McCarthy at pick No. 10.
“Justin?” Chargers general manager Joe Hortiz said Thursday after drafting tackle Joe Alt when asked if the team received calls regarding Herbert. “No. No. At the combine, I had some people ask me, ‘Would we consider it?’ And they were quickly shot down. No, that is never an option.”
It makes sense that the Vikings and Patriots both at least called to see if the Chargers would trade Herbert considering the new leadership in place.
First-year coaches sometimes want to get their own quarterback in place, and for all of Herbert’s skills, new coach Jim Harbaugh did not draft him.
Herbert is also a proven commodity, while Maye and McCarthy, despite their upsides, may not ever be as good as Herbert is now or may be in the future.
Trading Herbert would have allowed the Chargers to add extra draft capital while they seemingly rebuild after losing receiver Mike Williams and running back Austin Ekeler in free agency, and trading wideout Keenan Allen to the Bears. With the No. 5 pick, they could have drafted Herbert’s replacement.
Harbaugh often spoke glowingly of McCarthy’s potential leading into the draft.
But, ultimately, the deal didn’t make sense both production-wise and financially.
Herbert is still an elite quarterback and good teams don’t let those types of players out of the building. You build around a player like that, which is why the Chargers used their first pick to help keep him upright.
Any trade would have also crippled the Chargers’ books for the upcoming season, as Herbert would have carried a $63.5 million dead salary hit if traded, per ESPN.
Herbert signed a five-year, $262.5 million deal before last season.
The fourth-year quarterback produced his worst statistical season in 2023, throwing for a career-low 20 touchdowns while being limited to 13 games due to a broken right finger.
