We’re running a mailbag every Friday during the offseason. If you have questions on the Patriots, NFL, or want to gripe about past answers, email cmason@masslive.com or tweet @bychrismason. Now let’s get to this week’s questions!
Please explain why would you pick Drake Maye over Marvin Harrison Jr? Drake Maye played against lower-tier DBs in college and NFL corners and safeties will eat him alive — Keith C.
If you’re going to make an anti-Drake Maye argument, I don’t think “he played in the ACC” is the best course of action. Reigning MVP Lamar Jackson is an ACC product, as are Trevor Lawrence, Deshaun Watson etc. If non-conference opponents are your thing, Maye also lit up Notre Dame for 301 yards and five touchdowns without throwing a pick in 2022.
The best argument against taking Maye is probably how raw he still is — the 21-year-old only started 26 games in college and isn’t automatic on short throws — but I think his upside makes him well worth the risk.
Quarterback is the most important position in North American sports. Yes, football is a team game, but if there’s any doubt to the quarterback’s importance, flip on the Patriots’ tape from 2023. Harrison would have be the best wideout on the roster, but who would have helped New England’s offense more? The answer is obvious: It’s Maye under center.
The Athletic’s draft whiz Dane Brugler has Maye ranked as the second best quarterback in the class and boiled down his evaluation to this: “Overall, Maye needs to cut down on the reckless decisions, but he is a well-put-together passer with the on-field command, athletic instincts and arm talent to create solutions for the problems that NFL defenses present. With his physical gifts and smarts, he is cut from the same cloth as Justin Herbert and has a similar ceiling as an NFL player.”
It sounds like the Patriots have a similar evaluation, and in speaking at the NFL Combine, Jerod Mayo pointed to the quarterback’s off-the-field makeup as well.
“Drake Maye had a fantastic interview at the combine. He brings a lot of energy. You can tell he has that leadership ability,” Mayo said. “And also the exciting part about a guy like Drake Maye is the ceiling. Like, there is really no ceiling with a guy like that. Now, in saying that when we’re trying to put together this roster, I know a lot of people look at the ceiling, but you also got to kind of see how low is the floor. How low is the floor?”
I’m OK with rolling the dice on a high-ceiling, low-floor prospect, especially after watching three years of Mac Jones. He was supposed to be a low-ceiling, high-floor guy, and we saw how that turned out. At this point, gimme the guy that’s getting Herbert and Josh Allen comps and we’ll see if an NFL coaching staff can figure it out.
I have no doubt that Harrison will be a very good NFL wide receiver, but this is viewed as a loaded quarterback draft class, and when a team has a chance to get their guy, they have to take it. Maye checks enough of those boxes to make the pick at No. 3 overall with conviction.
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I like extending Kyle Dugger: Do you see him being named a captain for 2024? — Mike M.
It’s certainly a possibility.
As it stands, New England has four returning captains, all of whom will likely be reelected — David Andrews, Hunter Henry, Ja’Whaun Bentley and Deatrich Wise — while two departed in Matthew Slater and Mac Jones. There’s no rule mandating how many captains an NFL team can carry and in recent years the Patriots have oscillated between five and eight.
So who are logical candidates?
If Mayo wants to replace Slater with a special teamer, that’ll be a two-horse race between Brenden Schooler and Joe Cardona. On the defensive side of the ball, Dugger, Jabrill Peppers and Jonathan Jones all have compelling cases for captainship. There aren’t as many candidates on offense. Kendrick Bourne has said captainship is a goal of his, and perhaps Jacoby Brissett gets the “C” if he looks like a full-season starter coming out of training camp, but either way, I don’t think Mayo will give a rookie quarterback that responsibility even if he’s taken at No. 3 overall.
So Dugger is definitely in the conversation and he can certainly add to his case over the summer. He’s always been a quiet leader in New England’s secondary. Perhaps armed with a new contract, his voice kicks up a couple octaves.
Its been noted this week that Coach Mayo has changed some things such as getting rid of “do your job” painted on the walls and he is doing things differently. What are some things from the Pats dynasty that Mayo may keep from Bill Belichick, whether it be slogans, practices, or any other things from the Pats dynasty? — Conor M.
Well this is a timely question.
While Mayo has indeed redecorated the walls at Gillette Stadium and taken down some Belichick-ian signage, an answer from new linebacker Sione Takitaki caught my ear on Thursday afternoon. When asked what the coaching staff’s message had been for the defense this week, the newcomer’s answer was a familiar one.
“It just starts off with everyone doing their job,” Takitaki said. “Doing their 1/11th. That’s always been the Patriots mantra here. Everyone has a job. We’re not going to have anybody just out there being undisciplined. So disciplined football and we can go from there with making plays. I feel like it’s been a success for the Patriots defense for the last 15 years.”
As Takitaki spent the past five years in Cleveland, this isn’t like a Patriots veteran just responding with muscle memory. It’s not a Pavlovian response. They’re still teaching “do your job” in the meeting room. So yes, some principles from New England’s dynastic years will be sticking around, and it’s hard to believe this will be the only one.
Do you think Eliot Wolf will move up from No. 34 overall to try and get a left tackle in the late first round? — Kyle M.
I’d be stunned if the Patriots make both of their Day 2 picks — No. 34 and No. 68 — in their current spots. I think there’s going to be a run on talented players that’ll be too good to not jump up into. Whether that’s tackles in the late first round or wideouts in the mid-second, when it’s time to make a move, I don’t think Wolf will hesitate. Moving up into the late first for a tackle could make sense on multiple levels, too, as they’d have him under team control for an extra season with the fifth-year option that first-rounders get.
Have they had Dylan Laube, RB from UNH, for a visit? — Michelle P.
They’ve met with Laube a number of times at this point, though not on a Top 30 visit at Gillette Stadium to my knowledge. The Patriots talked to him at the Senior Bowl, NFL Combine, and he attended their local Pro Day, so there’s plenty of intel on the all-purpose back.
What will the Patriots do at kicker as they don’t have that many draft picks and need one badly — Jordan K.
They’ll use one of their Day 3 picks on one, sign an undrafted free agent, or bring somebody in from one of the spring leagues. However they get the kicker, Chad Ryland needs competition this summer. Everybody in the building knows that.
With only 70 players under contract right now, are the Patriots planning to invest heavily in undrafted free agents? Can they incentivize coming here with signing bonuses? How do those deals work? — Mike M.
So after spending too much time reading the collective bargaining agreement, I think I can boil this down into something digestible.
Essentially, all undrafted rookies are signed to a the same base contract, but the guaranteed money varies wildly. The Patriots landed UDFA Malik Cunningham last summer by guaranteeing him $200,000 — second most in team history on one of those deals — and outbidding other suitors. High guarantees are rare among undrafted free agents because they’re long-shots for 53-man roster spots; there’s a reason the players weren’t drafted. If they don’t make the roster out of training camp, then that guaranteed money will land on the salary cap as dead money.
However, given New England’s current roster, perhaps they’re more likely to guarantee money than others this spring.
It’s my understanding that Kraft has not taken any public funding for Patriots Place and Gillette Stadium. Is that accurate? And any indication that it will continue that way even when Jonathan takes over? — Darryn W.
That is accurate and it’s the way it should be. Billionaires can afford to build their own buildings.
