One analyst thinks a more creative solution could help solve the Browns’ QB issues.
The Cleveland Browns will have to think creatively to solve their quarterback situation this season, and one analyst has suggested a trade with the New England Patriots for second-year gunslinger Joe Milton.
The Browns have limited salary cap space, have to get star defensive end Myles Garrett to buy back in after his recent trade request, and have to find a quarterback this offseason. It is going to be a tough and stressful offseason in Berea.
After the Boston Sports Journal reported that the Patriots would contemplate trading Milton after his one stellar start to close the season, The Draft Network’s Justin Melo wonders if the Browns could find a solution on the trade market. Here is what Melo had to say:
“Taking a chance on Milton’s raw abilities would be worth the gamble if Sanders/Ward aren’t attainable. The Browns have a terrific offensive-minded head coach in Kevin Stefanski who would be capable of developing Milton. The franchise simply can’t run it back with Watson, who already suffered a second serious offseason Achilles injury during his recovery from a season-ending one.”
In his one game with a significant amount of playing time, Week 18 against the resting Buffalo Bills, Milton was 22-of-28 for 241 yards and a touchdown in the win for the Patriots.
Milton, listed at 6-foot-5 and 246 pounds, is a great athlete with a top-tier arm. Accuracy and running a juvenile Tennessee offense were the big knocks on Milton coming out of college, leading him to fall to the sixth round.
Could playing in a structured wide zone offense like head coach Kevin Stefanski wants to get back to in Cleveland bring out the best in the young quarterback with big-time tools?
We’ll see how the Browns seek to find a quarterback this offseason, but Milton could firmly be on the table.
The New Orleans Saints were named as a potential trade partner with the New England Patriots for flashy rookie quarterback. Here’s why Joe Milton makes sense:
The New Orleans Saints have an open door for the long-term answer at quarterback, which means they should open themselves up for any possibility at the position.
While most teams find project quarterbacks in the draft, could the Saints be interested in trading for one? Anthony Palacios of Last Word On Sports recently put together a list of teams that may be interested in trading for New England Patriots backup quarterback Joe Milton. New Orleans was included in that group.
This is what Palacios had to say about the potential move:
“Meanwhile, the New Orleans Saints will be rebuilding in the offseason but they must have a Plan B if they don’t see Derek Carr as part of their plans. Carr already said he won’t be taking a pay cut and since he’s entering his final year in his contract, they might as well settle for the arm that Milton has. Rookie Spencer Rattler had his chance but if Carr doesn’t produce, they could run Rattler and Milton for the starting job next.”
Making this move would be just about getting better a year from now. Milton is as raw as a player could get, but is more exciting of a passer than the Saints have had since Drew Brees.
The 24-year-old only saw limited play as a rookie, playing one game, but he looked very good while doing it. In a win over the Buffalo Bills, he completed 75.9% of his passes for a touchdown and no interceptions.
Milton has a rocket for an arm, but he showed more touch than expected as well. While it shouldn’t be at the top of their to-do list, given that Rattler is already on the roster, New Orleans could at least consider making a move.
Do the Patriots have too much young QB talent? Or is Joe Milton merely a laser-armed Bailey Zappe?
The New England Patriots made a business decision in Week 18. Drake Maye dropped back on third-and-long — his second passing play of the day against the Buffalo Bills. He got sacked behind a cheesecloth offensive line that left the franchise quarterback battered throughout his rookie season.
Understanding the risk of keeping Maye in the game went two ways. One was an injury for a player who’d been pressured a league-worst 40.8 percent of the time. The other was, well, winning Sunday’s game would be a net detriment for the Patriots. A loss would cement the top overall pick in the 2025 NFL Draft, a position from which New England could trade back and pick up the assets needed to jump-start a massive, wildly necessary overhaul.
So Maye went to the sideline. Rookie seventh round pick Joe Milton emerged in his place — a decision that let the Patriots better understand what the young, rocket-armed quarterback was capable of while enhancing the team’s chance of locking in the top overall pick.
There’s good news and bad news on that front for New England.
Joe Milton is balling in his debut! 48-yard TD pass to Boutte!
Milton completed his first 11 NFL passes before a second quarter throw-away. He showcased his arm strength and the scrambling ability to extend plays — or lead them to the end zone.
Milton’s first NFL appearance resulted in 241 passing yards on 29 attempts and a pair of touchdowns. That was enough to ruin the Pats’ draft chances; they beat Mitchell Trubisky and Mike White 23-16 to improve to 4-13 — and take themselves out of the running for a top three pick.
Let’s look at this through an optimistic lens. Is it possible the Patriots have stumbled into a good problem of having too much young quarterback talent? After all, Milton’s best play of the afternoon — the one absolutely dripping with star power — didn’t even count.
That’s the peak of Milton’s performance, a showcase of everything he can do. He’s a gifted scrambler who turns stupid decisions (like running 11 yards backward) into magic. He can whip an absolute laser 40 yards downfield while barely losing any altitude on his throw.
Four of Milton’s seven incompletions came on deep throws to one of the league’s worst receiving corps. He wasn’t sacked at all and was only hit three times in the pocket.
via habitatring.com
A lost fumble was the only black mark on his afternoon — and that was a botched handoff where blame could be assigned equally to quarterback and tailback.
The Bills’ 19th-ranked passing defense rested most of its key players. Six starters, including Ed Oliver, Daquan Jones, Christian Benford and Greg Rousseau, weren’t even active. That left Milton to piece up a second level featuring players like Kaiir Elam, Edefuan Ulofoshio, Joe Andreessen and Cole Bishop.
That’s a step up from beating guys like Luiji Vilain, Dicaprio Bootle and Lamar Jackson (not that one) in his preseason debut, but still not great.
The other concern is Milton wasn’t especially consistent in college or, indeed, in his exhibition career as a pro. After sowing seeds of optimism in his first NFL appearance vs. Carolina, he completed only seven of his final 24 passes over the final two games of the 2024 preseason.
This tracks back to his Tennessee days. Milton’s disappearance against Florida in his third game of 2023 effectively set the ceiling for the Volunteers’ season. He crushed UConn and Vanderbilt and flailed against Texas A&M and Georgia. He played well against Alabama but led his offense to just seven points against Missouri.
There’s another fact to consider; the Patriots have gone through this before. Bailey Zappe relieved Mac Jones as a rookie fourth round pick in 2022. He won his first two starts and, through three games, completed nearly 73 percent of his passes with four touchdowns, one interception, 8.5 yards per attempt and a 111.5 passer rating.
This was not sustainable. Zappe was waived before the 2023 season, made it to the practice squad anyway and threw nine interceptions in his final eight games that fall. Neither he nor Jones made it to the 2024 active roster. Zappe served as the Cleveland Browns’ fourth-string quarterback this season and helped push his team past New England in the draft order with a horrendous performance in Week 18.
Maye and Milton are different than the Pats’ other young gun platoon. The former looks the part of a franchise quarterback capable of evading pass rushers and launching picture perfect throws downfield. The latter has a lower floor than Zappe and a significantly higher ceiling.
Expecting Milton to improve significantly is a tough ask. He’s nearly 25 years old after six years in college. He played at Michigan and Tennessee and failed to emerge as a consistent, trustworthy starter at either stop (though his final year with the Vols was certainly decent enough). Is guidance the issue after spending a long NCAA around some well respected coaching staffs?
Milton is a conundrum. From a raw talent standpoint he’s remarkable. He can almost effortlessly flick a football 60 yards downfield, run a 4.5-second 40-yard dash and broad jump 10 feet from a standstill. Turning that prodigious talent into something more isn’t impossible. Getting that kind of performance on a regular basis, however, may be.
But for one week, when the Patriots needed it the least, Milton shined. Now Maye gets to suffer for it if New England can’t maximize its reduced draft status next spring.
Seahawks opponent watch: Patriots name Jacoby Brissett starting QB
The Seattle Seahawks are slated to play the New England Patriots in Week 2 this season. Now, they know which quarterback they will be facing. The Patriots have had an open quarterback battle during training camp and the preseason. It has been between veteran journeyman Jacoby Brissett and the No. 3 overall pick from the 2024 NFL draft, Drake Maye from the University of North Carolina.
On Thursday, it was announced that Jacob Brissett will be New England’s starting quarterback. Despite the fact Patriots head coach Jerod Mayo saying he’s felt Maye has outplayed Brissett, it seems New England will be going with the veteran to start the year.
Ultimately, this is not all that surprising. Maye was a top quarterback prospect, but arguably the most raw and in need of further development at the NFL level. It was even reproted in early July from New England insiders who said they’d be “shocked” if Maye was the starter to begin the season.
It also means the Seahawks won’t be facing two rookie quarterbacks to begin their 2024 campaign. Seattle is already slated to face Bo Nix when the Broncos come to town, as he will be the first rookie quarterback to start Week 1 for Denver since John Elway in 1983.
Although Brissett is a perfectly capable starter in this league, this is still a bit of a break for Mike Macdonald’s defense as a road opener. Brissett is a known commodity in this league, which is a bridge quarterback. Seattle’s defense should be able to keep him and the lackluster New England offense in check when they travel to Foxboro this September.
Patriots rookie QB Joe Milton stumbles in second preseason appearance, but still shows promise
The story of the opening week of preseason games may very well have been the sixth round quarterback that the New England Patriots took a chance on in Joe Milton. Given Milton’s immense talent, what he showed last week left the New England fan base in a scramble as he looked like far and away the best quarterback on the field that night. Now that week two of the preseason came around and New England’s first round quarterback was let loose a bit more, reality start to set in.
Completing just 2 out of 7 passes on the night, it was hard for Milton to find consistency within the offense. Though to be fair to the rookie, he was not given much help as the offensive line he played behind looked overwhelmed and his receivers did him no favors with multiple drops. Milton was also more contained in the run game, compiling just 9 yards on 3 attempts.
Even with the issues surrounding Milton, it’s clear watching him play that he belongs on a NFL roster and that the Patriots got a bit of a steal in the sixth round. It would be shocking if Milton didn’t make the roster at this point as he is clearly one of the best quarterbacks on the roster despite the talent around him.
Instant analysis of the Patriots’ Week 1 preseason win over the Panthers
The New England Patriots opened up their 2024 preseason slate on Thursday night with a 17-3 win over the visiting Carolina Panthers.
It was mostly a defensive game dictated by field position until Patriots rookie quarterback Joe Milton III entered the game in the second half.
New England came into the matchup with an interesting strategy of starting Jacoby Brissett for a drive and following that up by giving rookie first-round draft pick Drake Maye only one drive as well. They then went with Bailey Zappe for the rest of the first quarter and most of the third.
Zappe was booed heavily when he entered the game by a Patriots fan-base that clearly wanted to see more of Maye. It was a decent effort from the veteran quarterback, who finished the game going 12-of-20 passing for 108 yards.
He even led the Patriots on a touchdown drive that was capped off with running back Kevin Harris rushing the ball into the end zone for six points.
But the story of this game was Milton and the Patriots’ defense. The sixth-round draft pick looked surprisingly calm in the pocket. He never panicked under pressure and even took off for an incredible 13-yard run when the defenders got close.
The real play of the night for Milton came on a play where he pump-faked the defense and threw a 38-yard touchdown pass to receiver JaQuae Jackson, who nearly juked the defender out of his cleats.
On the defensive side of the ball, the Patriots gave the Panthers fits all night.
They dominated at the line of scrimmage and forced quarterbacks Jack Plummer and Jake Luton to get the ball out quickly. There were several dropped passes and missed opportunities for the Panthers, but they were mostly overwhelmed by a Patriots defense that looked solid across the board.
Defensive tackle Jeremiah Pharms Jr. and edge rusher Oshane Ximines in particular had great games. Both players registered a sack and two quarterback hits on the night.
Overall, it was a good night for the Patriots, but they won’t have long to celebrate. It’ll be back to work next week with a scheduled joint training camp practice with the Philadelphia Eagles on August 13.
The two teams will then face off in a Week 2 preseason matchup at Gillette Stadium on Thursday, August 15.
Joe Milton put on a show for the Patriots on Thursday night.
Detroit Lions quarterback Hendon Hooker wasn’t the only former Tennessee quarterback impressing during Thursday night’s NFL preseason slate.
New England Patriots rookie quarterback Joe Milton absolutely wowed on one play against the Carolina Panthers where he showed off his stellar mobility by evading multiple would-be tacklers for a huge ground gain.
Milton’s throwing arm is a big reason why the Patriots drafted him in the same year as Drake Maye, but the former Tennessee quarterback’s elusiveness as a rusher was on full display with this amazing scramble.
While preseason highlights can sometimes be fool’s gold, we have a feeling that Milton may well be capable of plays like this on Sunday.
It’s a great question because everyone has them. Whether it’s seeing people chew food with their mouths open or that one person calling instead of texting for the simplest thing. There’s some quirk capable of drawing an involuntary stink eye out of all of us.
But what about New England Patriots players? What are some of their biggest pet peeves?
The Patriots’ social media team caught up with players during organized team activities for a fun video of them revealing what behaviors annoyed them the most. It produced some truly hilarious responses.
Rookie quarterback Drake Maye said, “When somebody hears you and they still say, ‘What?'”
Meanwhile, Joe Milton’s biggest pet peeve is people that talk too much, while tight end Hunter Henry can’t stand when people behind him on an airplane try to pass him.
The pet peeve for Patriots fans in the last two seasons has been losing football games.
However, there’s hope the team can eventually get that corrected with first-year head coach Jerod Mayo and executive vice president of player personnel Eliot Wolf now leading the charge.
The Patriots could be looking to trim down their quarterback room heading into training camp
The New England Patriots have a plan in place for how they will trim down the quarterback room, as spring practices get underway.
Currently, the Patriots have four quarterbacks on their roster with Jacoby Brissett, Bailey Zappe, Drake Maye and Joe Milton III. Maye and Milton are the newest additions to the room.
Zappe has been with the team since 2022, and Brissett is on his second stint with the Patriots. All four will be under the microscope with the Patriots looking to find stability at the quarterback position in the post-Tom Brady era.
It sounds as though fall camp will be the time where the quarterback room gets trimmed down, as Mayo told reporters on Monday afternoon.
“Once we get to training camp, that’s real football,” Mayo said, via NESN.com’s Sean T. McGuire. “So, out here in the spring we’ll rock with four. But as soon as we get to training camp now we’ll look to start paring down the roster.”
It will be interesting to see who is the odd man out in the room. The quarterback room itself could be something worth monitoring throughout the course of the next couple of months.
Former Vols’ quarterback Joe Milton set for return to Tennessee in 2024.
National Football League schedules were announced for the 2024 season on Wednesday.
The Tennessee Titans will host New England on Nov. 3 at Nissan Stadium in Nashville, Tennessee. Kickoff between Tennessee and the Patriots is slated for 1 p.m. EDT and will be televised by Fox.
Former Vol quarterback Joe Milton III was selected by New England in the sixth round (No. 193) of the 2024 NFL draft. Milton played at Tennessee from 2021-23 after transferring from Michigan.
Former Vol Jerod Mayo is also in his first season as the Patriots’ head coach. He played linebacker for the Vols from 2005-07.
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