The New England Patriots selected Drake Maye with the third overall pick of the NFL Draft last year, and it definitely paid dividends, as Maye had a strong rookie campaign and appears to be bringing the Patriots back to relevance.
However, New England also selected Joe Milton III in the sixth round, which apparently had Maye's family members scratching their heads, per Ben Volin of The Boston Globe.
“Indeed, a league source said last month at the NFL Combine that Maye’s family was not thrilled when Milton was drafted,” Volin wrote.
Evidently, Maye himself wasn't too happy when the Pats rested him for a majority of the season finale and instead played Milton, who put forth an impressive performance in a win over the Buffalo Bills.
Of course, it's all water under the bridge now, as the Patriots just traded Milton to the Dallas Cowboys, but it may have been a sore subject for Maye and his camp early on.
You can certainly see why drafting two quarterbacks in the same year may have caused some issues. Many raised their eyebrows over New England's decision to take Milton on Day 3 of the 2024 draft, as it seemed to indicate a lack of total belief in Maye.
Perhaps the Pats merely felt that Milton was the best player available at the time, but that typically doesn't apply when it comes to the quarterback position.
Ultimately, Maye supplanted Jacoby Brissett under center in mid-October and threw for 2,276 yards, 15 touchdowns and 10 interceptions while completing 66.6 percent of his passes and posting a passer rating of 88.1 in 13 appearances and 12 starts. He also rushed for 421 yards and a couple of scores, averaging a robust 7.8 yards per carry.
The Patriots have now made it clear that the 22-year-old is their franchise quarterback moving forward.
-1742954085-q80.webp "Flyers’ John Tortorella on team’s rebuild: ‘We knew we were going to go through some pain’")
