The New England Patriots have selected Drake Maye with the third overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft hoping to find in him their next franchise quarterback in the post Tom Brady era.
Speaking of the seven-time Super Bowl champion — six of those rings were in Foxborough — the 46-year-old recently shared some important advice for the University of North Carolina product.
“I’m very fortunate to be around him and I like him a lot,” Brady told Yahoo Sports. “I’ve heard great things about him. But his opportunity is going to be really what he makes of it and how he wants to develop it and how he wants to attack his profession — like we all do. It’s not where you’re at when you’re 22. It’s who you’re around when you’re 22. Who inspires you to be better? Who develops you?.”
Selected with the 199th pick in the sixth round of the 2000 NFL Draft, Brady entered the league with much lower expectations than Maye. But according to the Patriots legend, being around the right people and competing against top players brought the best out of him.
“I was so fortunate. I look at my career, I was looking around at other competitors like Peyton Manning, like Steve McNair, Vinny Testaverde was playing for the [New York] Jets. Brett Favre was playing,” Brady added. “I was looking around at quarterbacks who were unbelievable. And I had coaches that were unbelievable. The competition was tough. My coaches were tough. I had to grow and develop. I would want those [young] guys to have the same thing.”
Patriots could wait before handing Drake Maye QB1 job
While the Patriots clearly hope Maye can lead the franchise for the years to come, it appears that they’re trying to take things slowly. The Tar Heels star is heading into training camp facing plenty of competition at the position.
New England brought back Jacoby Brissett to probably serve as a bridge quarterback this season, but third-year QB Bailey Zappe is still with the franchise to fight for a spot in the depth chart. Besides, the Pats also used a draft pick on a quarterback in the sixth round to land Joe Milton.
While head coach Jerod Mayo will wait until training camp to make a decision on the QB1 job, all signs are pointing towards Brissett starting in Week 1 to let Maye gradually settle in.
Patriots hope Maye becomes Brady’s successor after Mac Jones’ failure
While the expectations around Maye are high in Foxborough, this is not the organization’s first try at finding Tom Brady’s successor. That was when the Patriots drafted Mac Jones 15th overall in 2021.
The Alabama Crimson Tide product almost got the fans’ aspirations high with strong performances in his rookie season, leading the team to its first playoff appearance since Brady left. But the next two seasons completely changed the outlook at Gillette Stadium.
With Matt Patricia calling the offensive plays, Jones took many steps back in 2022 as the Patriots failed to make the postseason with an 8-9 record. The team hired Bill O’Brien as offensive coordinator in 2023, but the unit continued to struggle.
Jones was benched halfway through the season, which saw the Patriots finish with a 4-13 record, the worst in Bill Belichick’s tenure. New England sent him to Jacksonville this year, aiming to build its future around Maye.
