It seemed pretty clear in the hours leading up to the 2024 NFL Draft that the New England Patriots were honing in on quarterback Drake Maye.
New England had set a ridiculously high asking price in trade-down talks with teams such as the New York Giants (sixth overall) and Minnesota Vikings (11th overall). Current front office head Eliot Wolf didn’t back down.
Instead, New England stood pat and selected Maye. It came after Caleb Williams went to the Chicago Bears at one and fellow quarterback Jayden Daniels was selected at two by the Washington Commanders.
There is a reason why Maye was considered a top-five prospect in the 2024 NFL Draft. He has loads of talent. Despite a down 2023 season, Maye’s tape speaks for itself. This doesn’t mean that there are not any issues when it comes to New England attempting to find its franchise quarterback.
Related: Updated 2024 NFL Draft tracker
Sure, Maye very well be a good quarterback in time. He has loads of talent. But he’s not set up to succeed out of the gate. At the very least, it will be a maturation process. We saw how that worked with Bryce Young and a talent-stricken Carolina Panthers team a season ago.