The Patriots are in a fortunate position to start looking ahead to next offseason and determine their plan to keep franchise quarterback Drake Maye on the roster long-term. It is a task that seemed unattainable in the four years after Tom Brady left for the Bucs, but if there's one thing that went right about the Jerod Mayo era, it's the decision to draft the former UNC starter.
Maye is set to play his third NFL season this fall, but he will be eligible for an extension as soon as next offseason. There's a good chance the Patriots will pick up his fifth-year option first, just as they did with Christian Gonzalez, which allows them more time to reach an agreement on a new contract.
However, the longer they push out that process, the more expensive Maye's salary can become, since every offseason another player seems to reset the market.
It's already clear that the quarterback will be in line to earn close to $50 million per season based on current league trends, but some NFL insiders, like NBC Sports' Mike Florio, believe the Patriots could be hesitant to award such a contract.
Even worse is Florio's suggestion that Maye might give them a hard time during negotiations.
NFL insider wouldn't be surprised if Drake Maye gives the Patriots trouble during extension talks
While discussing quarterbacks around the league who are set to get new contracts soon and how Patrick Mahomes' new deal impacts that, Florio mentioned Maye, of course, but floated the possibility that he won't be as agreeable to take a hometown discount as Brady did.
He cites Maye's early career success, having just been named the runner-up to the MVP Award and taking his team to the Super Bowl, on top of being a third-overall pick, as the basis of his argument, and that would be a disastrous scenario for the Patriots to deal with.
“The player who finished second in the MVP voting to cap his second season also has his window open after the 2026 regular season. And the Patriots will be hoping that, like Tom Brady before him, Maye will be less inclined to break the bank and more inclined to ensure that there will be cap space to have a quality team around him.
Brady, who entered the league as the 199th overall pick, had naturally lower expectations early in his career. Maye, the third overall pick who was denied the commensurate reward due to the rookie wage scale, may not be as charitable as Brady was.”
Although Brady had success early in his career, too, taking the Patriots to three Super Bowls in five years, he was a sixth-round pick with low expectations, just as Florio said, and he played for a stricter head coach and general manager.
So the quarterback adopted a different mindset than what many players have in today's league.
However, that doesn't necessarily mean Maye will demand to be the highest-paid player at the position, nor does it mean he should have to take a lower salary just because the last franchise quarterback for the team did throughout his tenure in New England.
From what we've seen, Maye has earned a hefty extension and is well on his way to becoming one of the best quarterbacks in the league. That warrants an extension that reflects that, and if that means the Patriots have to pay up, then so be it.
He's not at a point in his career that he should be taking discounts, and hopefully, the current regime won't attempt to persuade him to do so just yet. There's a time down the road where that would make sense, but not with his first contract extension.
Instead, it should be an easy decision to keep Maye around for years to come by giving him the contract he has earned. They have already attempted to find their next franchise player over the past six years, and all failed except for Maye.
If that's not enough reason not to play games when negotiating his next contract, it's difficult to say what would be.
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