Taylor Adams has flourished in 2020, stepping up as arguably the Magpies best player in the absence of several star players who are sidelined through injury.
On Sunday Adams will come up against Carlton bull Patrick Cripps, but things could have been very different for the pair, reports afl.com.au's Callum Twomey.
Adams moved to the Magpies with plenty of interest from fellow Victorian clubs, but it is now being reported that Carlton weren't too far off adding Adams to their rebuild.
It is believed that the Blues were willing to part ways with their first round pick, which was sitting at 13th overall.
That pick stuck with the Blues after negotiations failed, with Carlton going on to take Cripps in the 2013 draft.
Carlton recruiting boss Shane Rogers revealed Adams had spent some time considering a move to Ikon Park.
"We had an interest in Taylor," former Blues recruiting boss Shane Rogers told AFL.com.au.
"He came to the club and we toured him around, and we probably thought we wasn't going to choose usĀ in the end and he went with Collingwood. But we had our first pick ready there if it did go that way and progress a bit further."
Rogers added that Adams decision would soon profit the Blues in the upcoming draft.
"I'm very happy with how it turned out," Rogers said.
"At the time I didn't think we had a lot of leaders either. So that was the bonus of picking Patty Cripps ā he was going to be a leader.
"And Taylor Adams would have been that for us too, that's why he was one of the players we identified because we needed that hard edge that we didn't have at the time.
"Both those blokes brought the exact same thing I thought."
Adams' move came at a cost for the Magpies, with Heath Shaw heading in the other direction, with the deal paying off for both parties.
Collingwood looked to have edged out Geelong, Essendon, Richmond and the Blues in adding Adams to their arsenal in 2013.
