The Patriots are expecting big things in 2025, with more than $300 million having been spent in free agency and four picks in the draft’s first three rounds spent on offensive players to bolster a team that has lacked direction in the past five seasons. Coach Mike Vrabel is in New England now, and there are widespread predictions that this team will head to the playoffs.
The positive vibes around the team are palpable–they’re always palpable at this time of year, of course–but the fact is that everything this team can or cannot accomplish in the coming season and beyond hinges on one guy: 22-year-old quarterback Drake Maye, the team’s No. 3 overall pick in 2024.
Maye certainly showed promise as a rookie. But he also showed himself to be a risk-taking rookie who threw for 2,276 yards in 13 games, including 15 touchdowns and 10 interceptions. To assume he is going to make a giant leap in 2025–as most around New England seem to think–is probably putting too much on his shoulders.
Patriots Will Seek to ‘Help’ Drake Maye
The good news is that the Patriots do not intend to be the ones burdening Maye with too much responsibility. Indeed, while the team drafted heavily on the offensive side, the bulk of their spending this winter was for defensive players. And that’s where Vrabel butters his bread.
Patriots personnel executive Alonzo Highsmith said this week in an interview with Fanatic Sports that the goal in New England is not to heap responsibility on Maye, but to let him grow at his own pace–while, hopefully, winning football games along the way.
“I don’t think anyone’s expecting Drake Maye to put this franchise on his back,” Highsmith said, via Pats Pulpit. “It’s always going to be a collaborative effort amongst teammates. Everyone’s got to play a part, and even though he’s a quarterback — the quarterback position is a high-profile position and it requires a lot of things — I think everybody’s going to do their part to help Drake Maye. …
“It’s the toughest position in all of sports; the most demanding position in all of sports. It comes with a lot of praise and it comes with a lot of criticism. Most quarterbacks understand spotlight, and I don’t think it’s going to be too big a problem for Drake Maye. He’s a young guy, still developing. And it’s our job — everyone’s job; teammates, everybody around him — to help him.”
