The New England Patriots are back in the quarterback market for the second time since Tom Brady retired, hoping the 2024 NFL Draft can provide them with a long-term answer at the position. While many around the league are high on this year’s quarterbacks, the Patriots don’t seem to share that opinion on one top player.
New England will not have its choice of the top quarterback prospects. The Chicago Bears are widely expected to use the first overall pick on Caleb Williams. Meanwhile, thanks to the Patriots’ last-second win over the Denver Broncos on Dec. 24, they’re third behind the Washington Commanders in the 2024 NFL Draft order.
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It could prove to have a massive influence on the Patriots draft class in 2024. New England will be left with whoever is left among the top three quarterbacks in the 2024 class. After Williams, Drake Maye and Jayden Daniels, there’s considered to be a fairly significant drop-off in terms of talent and upside with the second tier of signal-callers.
As a result, New England has left the door open to trading down from the third overall pick and building a team around a veteran quarterback. It reportedly could be even likelier to happen if one specific passer is on the board when the team is put on the clock.
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According to Tony Pauline of Sportskeeda, several scouts within the Patriots organization “are not fans” of Maye. Several of New England’s talent evaluators were polled in recent days about the North Carolina Tar Heels quarterback and quite a few made it clear they weren’t fans of his tape.
While Maye met with teams at the NFL Combine, the 6-foot-4 quarterback didn’t participate in drills or athletic testing. The reports of the Patriots’ scouts not being high on him come days after a lot of mixed reporting on the 2022 ACC Player of the Year from Indianapolis, with clubs having vastly different opinions on the star quarterback.
- Drake Maye stats (career); 8,018 passing yards, 154.1 QB rating, 63-16 TD-INT, 64.9% completion rate, 8.4 yards per attempt, 1,209 rushing yards, 16 rushing touchdowns
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Maye offers the prototypical size, arm strength and athleticism that teams typically want in a franchise quarterback. However, multiple poor performances this past reason have raised concerns about his NFL readiness. If the Patriots are truly lower on Maye and he is on the board with the third overall pick, it would make it very likely that New England trades down with a team like the Atlanta Falcons or Minnesota Vikings.