Expectations were immediately high for Drake Maye when the Patriots drafted him with the third overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft, and it's not just because he was the third quarterback taken off the board in that class. A big component of it was proving he could be the real successor to Tom Brady, after years of Mac Jones failing to reach that level.
He didn't get that opportunity right away, as Jerod Mayo and Co. thought it was best to keep him on the bench until the team really needed him. That came in Week 6, and they haven't turned back, which all led to him leading the Patriots to a big-time win over the Bills on Sunday Night Football this week.
In just 17 starts, he has already solidified himself as the future of the franchise, and things will only get better from here. However, there have been some bumps in the road, although most were expected, prompting some to give him a nickname that no player would ever want.
A Boston radio host referred to him as "Drake Maybe?" after his Week 3 loss to the Steelers, which could be mainly attributed to five turnovers by the offense, two of which came from Maye. That nickname already looks like a thing of the past, however, and now the team has given him a new catchphrase to go with instead that fans already love.
Drake Maye could lead the Patriots to domination over the Bills for a long time
Despite being on the road in a hostile environment against the last remaining undefeated team of the 2025 season, the Patriots left Buffalo with a sneaky good win, and a lot of that is due to Maye stepping up when he needed to.
Because of that, and because the Bills were wearing their snowy Rivalries uniforms, the Patriots' social media team decided to give him a new catchphrase, "Snow melts in Maye."
#SnowMeltsInMaye pic.twitter.com/Rpw7Cbczms
— New England Patriots (@Patriots) October 6, 2025
That might be something we only hear when they play the Bills, but if Maye can continue to lead the team to a win against their biggest divisional rival, then it's fine if we only hear it twice a season.
He put on an absolute clinic against the best team the Patriots have faced so far this season, and now enter a stretch of games that should be a lot easier to continue that winning streak. Maye showed exactly who he can be when the lights are the brightest, and it's clear that we still haven't even seen his best yet, which is almost unfathomable considering what he's already accomplished.