Although the debate surrounding the Patriots' inevitable decision to make rookie Drake Maye the starting quarterback is long over, there are still plenty of concerns regarding his development and the lack of ideal help on the offense. The idea of potentially ruining his confidence or worse, similar to what happened with Mac Jones, is very much real, which was one of the main reasons many wanted to see Maye remain on the bench in 2024.
That's still prominent even since he took over the offense in Week 6, and some former players continue to vouch for young quarterbacks to be given the opportunity to learn from the sideline as long as they can.
One of those advocates has been Tom Brady, who learned from Drew Bledsoe when the Patriots drafted him in 2000. He has been a strong voice in the debate this past year, agreeing that Maye would benefit by learning from a veteran like Jacoby Brissett.
However, since that is no longer an option, Brady has given more insight into what he thinks would be best for teams with rookie quarterbacks to do to properly support their development and progression early in their careers.
Tom Brady indirectly tells the Patriots the best way to develop Drake Maye moving forward
During a recent appearance on FS1's The Herd, Brady spoke about the importance of having a solid cast around young quarterbacks to set them up for a successful career in the NFL.
From having the right coaches to learn from and a productive offense around them, the legendary quarterback believes that allowed him to have an impressively long and successful career in the league, which he hopes to see more of for up-and-coming players in the future.
Since Maye was drafted, Patriots fans and analysts have echoed much of what he said, especially since the offensive line and wide receiver room were the biggest concerns regarding the offense this season.
While things have certainly improved since Week 1, or even just since Maye took over in Week 6, it's still not the best situation for a rookie quarterback. That's why the 2025 offseason could be considered even more crucial than this past year. Now they have the quarterback to build around, and they have to do it the right way.
With plenty of cap space to spend and projected good draft positioning, there's no excuse for the Patriots not to accomplish that next year. Adding the caliber of players that will boost Maye's game will benefit the entire team and could make them contenders as soon as next season.
So it would be wise if they took Brady's (and others') suggestions seriously and helped Maye become great as soon as possible.