The New England Patriots already have their franchise quarterback in Drake Maye. They made that abundantly clear last week when they traded away Joe Milton III.
But here's the thing: the Patriots currently only have two signal-callers on the roster in Maye and Josh Dobbs, so they definitely have to add a third. Will they sign someone? Or will they take a shot at a quarterback in the NFL Draft?
ESPN's Mike Reiss seems to think New England will explore the latter, noting that the Pats "most likely will be looking at options from the third to seventh rounds."
While spending a third-round pick on a quarterback seems a bit too hasty, there may be some interesting options for the Patriots later on, and ESPN's Jordan Reid believes that Notre Dame Fighting Irish star Riley Leonard "fits the Patriots a ton" on a late-round flier.
Leonard spent the first three seasons of his collegiate career at Duke before transferring to Notre Dame last year. He threw for 2,861 yards, 21 touchdowns and eight interceptions while completing 66.7 percent of his passes. Leonard also did considerable damage on the ground, racking up 906 yards and a hefty 17 scores as a rusher.
Perhaps New England would be able to feature Leonard in some interesting offensive packages as a weapon out of the backfield akin to Taysom Hill? It would certainly be intriguing.
Leonard led the Fighting Irish all the way to the National Championship Game this past year, where they ultimately fell to the Ohio State Buckeyes.
Drafting Leonard would actually make more sense for the Pats than selecting a traditional pocket passer or someone who may have a chance to eventually start elsewhere, like Jalen Milroe.
We'll see if the Patriots decide to add to their quarterback room in a few weeks.
