Now Seems Like Good a Time as Any to Remind Ourselves About All the Draft Capital the Patriots Turned Down to Select Drake Maye

Now that it's been established that at the age of 23 years and almost two months that Drake Maye isn't going to be a great NFL quarterback, but rather already is one:

With QB analysts like Dan Orlovsky citing data like, "So far this year, one of the craziest numbers I've seen is that Drake Maye, throwing the football downfield 30 yards or more in the air? Is 20 of 27. That's almost 75% completion percentage. The hardest throw in football, he's completing at an outrageously high number."

I'm not sure where Orlovsky is getting those numbers, since that's more completions and attempts than I've seen Maye credited with on throws over 20 yards. But I'm not going to dispute it. He analyzes QB play for a living. It's his area of expertise. And I never argue with an expert whose data proves what I want to be true. I simply declare "the science is settled" and accuse anyone who disputes it of spreading disinformation and try to get them deplatformed.

In addition, we've got outlets like The Ringer arguing that if the 2024 class was being redrafted, Maye would go first overall:

Forget about a 2024 redraft. If NFL teams held a draft of every starting quarterback right now, there’s a chance that Maye could go as high as sixth. Patrick Mahomes, Josh Allen, and Lamar Jackson would go off the board first. I’d imagine that Justin Herbert would go fourth, just ahead of Joe Burrow, based on the latter’s durability alone. The top five is firmly established, even if the order of those quarterbacks would be up for debate. But Maye has a strong case after that. He’s not only the most talented quarterback under the age of 25 but also the most well-rounded, the most polished, and, during this season, the most productive. …

The creative playmaking we saw at UNC has translated to the next level. Maye isn’t just crafting big plays out of structure; he’s also salvaging broken plays by scrambling or dumping the ball off in time to avoid a sack. His pocket movement is advanced for his age, he throws downfield with anticipation, and there’s no lag when he progresses through his reads. …

A year and a half later, it’s difficult to find fault in his game. The same cannot be said for the rest of this class—or any of the league’s young quarterbacks. … [I]f the Bears got another chance to make the no. 1 pick, they shouldn’t hesitate to take Maye. 

And so as the wider world begins to discover what Patriots fans have watched develop over all those practices and obscure, regional 1pm games over the last 12 months, it's worth taking a moment to recall how hard some teams came after Eliot Wolf to see to it they'd be the ones celebrating the Maye moon rocket leave the launch pad and reach escape velocity:

Albert Breer in SI -  And here’s some credit to the Patriots for having conviction in Drake Maye in 2024.

The opportunity was there for a team riddled with holes to build up capital by using the No. 3 pick as a trade chip. The Vikings offered the Patriots the 11th pick, the 23rd pick and their 2025 first-round pick (along with Day 3 pick swaps that favored Minnesota) to go up eight spots to No. 3 and get Maye. The Giants offered their 2025 first-rounder to move up three spots, from No. 6 to No. 3.

In the Giants scenario, the Patriots would’ve had their shot at Michael Penix Jr., J.J. McCarthy and Bo Nix. In the Vikings scenario, they could’ve gotten McCarthy or Nix. And ultimately, they decided that Maye was better than those quarterbacks and the combination of draft capital they would’ve gotten after taking one of the other guys at No. 6 or No. 11.

It’s also a good reference point going forward that if you believe in a guy at that position, like the Patriots very much did that spring (they loved how Maye endured a tough 2023 season and refused to blame anyone else for it), the opportunity to get him.

Let's take a visual walk down that Memory Lane with the Giants and remember what it looked like:

And let take this as a reminder of how important it is to get The Guy when you have the chance. As tempting as it is to look at how empty your roster is, then at the Powerball Jackpot of draft picks New York and Minnesota were offering, and see how you could get a quick fix if you spent all the draft capital to replenish the top of your roster, this was one of those instances when - as the tired by nevertheless true cliche says - the best trade is the one you don't make. 

In spite of all the doubters about Maye's footwork and accuracy and all that, and the ones who insisted that McCarthy is a ballsy gamer who would bring the same winning Michigan Man energy to New England that our last great quarterback did, it has to be acknowledged that those of us who wouldn't pass on Maye at any price were right. Even before he got hurt, McCarthy's passer rating was below where Cam Ward's is right now. Nix's and Penix's are 24th and 26th in the NFL, respectively. 

Meawhile Maye has been on an absolute heater since Week 2 and turned his franchise around in ways none of the others could possibly have done. Even while having some of his best completions eliminated by the worst phantom calls ever witnessed:

I'm sure all those other picks being offered by the Giants and Vikings would've worked out swell. But when you get the chance to draft someone truly special, you take it every single blood time. I never thought I'd be saying this after the Ja'Lynn Polk/Javon Baker fiascos, but it might be time to retroactively give The Wolf the 2024 Executive of the Year award, just for shooting down those trade offers.