Didn’t First Contact outright state that the Borg would still have been in the Delta Quadrant in the 21st century?
Yup. But only long after VOY had invented the concept of the Borg being from Delta. We never ever learn how our ST:FC heroes could have learned of the Borg having a Delta connection: they never went through an adventure that would have provided that information! But there's nothing wrong with the Borg being more prominent in Delta than elsewhere, and with the heroes thinking (perhaps even correctly) that this is because they started out there. It's just that if the VOY writers wanted to keep Janeway from ever meeting any Borg, it would have been their choice and theirs alone. Timo Saloniemi
First Contact was released (not to mention written and shot) a good while before Scorpion was produced though, so Crusher's line was the first verbal mention of the Borg coming from the DQ. But you raise a good point about the origin of the Borg being based in the Delta Quadrant, the vague Okudagram in Descent seems to be what started it all...
True - but while "Scorpion" is the one to perhaps imply in dialogue that the Borg came from Delta, "Blood Fever" and "Unity" which were written and released concurrently with ST:FC are the ones that put the Borg in Delta in the first place, just without the "this must be their native turf" bits. And it's a bit sad that "Descent" actually suggested Delta as the last place where to look for the Borg... Timo Saloniemi
What? How does your description work out? First Contact debuted 22 November 1996 before VOY touched the Borg in "Blood Fever" 5 February 1997. I always assumed VOY's showrunners had to wait for the big-budget film project to complete before getting their turn at the major story element.
^ No, @StewMc is right. ST:FC specifically mentions the Delta Quadrant. Linky Specifically, this bit: