The New England Patriots are attempting to find their next franchise quarterback just a few years removed from the Tom Brady era. They hope that quarterback is Drake Maye, the former UNC football standout that they selected No. 3 overall in the 2024 NFL draft.
But over the past few months, the Patriots opted to go with Jacoby Brissett as the starter as head coach Jerod Mayo made the announcement last week. It was a questionable decision with Maye outplaying Brissett per Mayo.
However, it might be the right decision and Brady agrees.
During his Tuesday appearance on “The Herd” with Collin Cowherd, Brady was asked if he would start Maye right away for the Patriots. His answer might be a little surprising.
“I’ve gone on record to say that I think that it’s best in my opinion for young quarterbacks, or rookie quarterbacks to kind of watch a veteran do it,” said Brady. “There’s so much that goes on and quarterbacks need to process so much information so quickly and I think if you can have someone—I sat behind Drew Bledsoe my first year. What a great player he was. Someone that I got to watch and learn from. Aaron Rodgers watched, behind Brett Favre. Patrick Mahomes watched behind Alex Smith.”
“So when you have.a real pro in front of you they can help with that learning curve,” Brady continued. “Even though that young quarterback isn’t necessarily going out there and losing confidence what his abilities are. Ultimately those young quarterbacks are going to get opportunities. The franchises need those young quarterbacks to come in and take a big step and lead that franchise on into the future. I just like to give them a little bit of time to acclimate themselves to the pro game, the pro schedule. I mean it’s a big difference between college football and professional football.”
Brady did sit behind Bledsoe to begin his career and was trusted into action after the quarterback suffered an injury.
The rest is history. Brady went on to win seven Super Bowls and was a five-time Super Bowl MVP. The Patriots would absolutely love it if Maye could be the franchise guy and get them back to the promised land.
But for now, they will have to wait to unveil their new toy at quarterback.
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