July 4th. The greatest day on the American calendar. It represents the day that our tiny nation, just a few scattered colonies on the east coast of this great continent, declared independence from oppression and the right to live their lives they way they wanted, free from tyranny.
And while my independence from this countdown of the Top 10 Patriots Moments of 2024 is dwarfed by what would transpire in the years following 1776, I’m quite happy to be free from it. Last season sucked. So I’m very happy to be kicking off the best long weekend of the year by closing it out in style.
But first, for the last time, the list so far:
10. Jerod Mayo out, Mike Vrabel in.
9. Drake Maye hits Austin Hooper for a 38-yard TD on 4th-and-15 against theMiami Dolphins.
8. Joey Slye nails a 63-yard field goal to close out the half against theSan Francisco 49ers.
7. A free play gets DeMario Douglas into the end zone vs. theLos Angeles Chargers.
6. A nine-sack day helps list the Patriots over theChicago Bears.
5. A late 70-yard touchdown drive hands the Jets their fifth consecutive loss, and the Patriots their second win.
4. The Patriots stun the Bengals on opening weekend.
3.Drake Maye’s throws his first touchdown pass to Kayshon Boutte against theTexans.
2. Drake Maye hits Rhamondre Stevenson in the end zone with no time left on the clock to tie the game against the Titans.
At Number One, we have what I’m guessing will be the only thing any of us will actually remember about the 2024 Patriots season.
The Patriots draft Drake Maye.
For the vast majority of the 21st Century, Draft Day wasn’t much to celebrate around New England. The Patriots were almost always picking at the very tail end of the round, which meant that any of the big names and hot prospects were long gone by the time their turn rolled around. On the off chance that there was still a highly-touted player still on the board, you could count on Bill Belichick to trade out of the first round, acquire more picks, and then draft a DB in the 2nd round instead. It wasn’t an overly entertaining viewing experience, and as all the fans of the other teams in the NFL celebrated their new quarterback or stud receiver, most Patriots fans were performing a Google search to learn about a kid whose name they didn’t even know prior to the NFL Draft. The tradeoff for an unsexy April was a deep playoff run and six Lombardi Trophies, so nobody complained all that much.
However, all good things must come to an end, and following a disastrous 2023 season which saw the Patriots without a quarterback or a head coach for the first time in forever, New England sat with the third overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft. It was their highest pick since 1993, when they took Drew Bledsoe first overall. Paired with that high draft pick was a brand new coaching regime; the Jerod Mayo Era in New England had officially begun. How Mayo was going to approach the draft was anybody’s guess, but what was certain was that this team needed talent at almost every level.
The 2024 draft class was loaded with strong players, particularly at the quarterback position - hands down New England’s top priority. The hottest offseason debate was which of the top three QB prospects - Jayden Daniels, Drake Maye, and Caleb Williams - would be going first overall. The Bears and Commanders had picks one and two respectively, and both teams also needed quarterbacks. So most experts had the first three picks in the draft as quarterbacks; it was just a matter of the order.
However, there were a number of other teams also in the market for a QB that weren’t selecting as high as the Bears, Commanders, or Patriots. The Falcons, Vikings, Broncos, Colts, and others all had QB on their list of needs. So a blockbuster draft day trade was definitely on the table.
But there were no trades, at least not into the Top 3, and all three teams drafted a quarterback with their first pick. Caleb Williams ended up going to Chicago first overall, which most people expected. As for who Washington would pick, that was more of a mystery. Reports had them high on both Daniels and Maye, but they ended up taking Jayden Daniels at Number 2. That left the Patriots sitting at three, to either draft Drake Maye or trade down to acquire more picks with which to round out the roster.
We all know what Belichick would have done. But not Mayo. Mayo stayed where he was and took Maye third overall. The Patriots had the quarterback of the future.
We all know the rest. Jacoby Brissett started the season, but Drake Maye finished it. And while he experienced the usual growing pains that accompany a rookie quarterback thrust into the hardest job in all of sports, there were times when Maye looked transcendent. He showed a level of vision, pocket presence, and football IQ that belied his age or experience level. His 2024 season was far from perfect, but it could have been a whole lot worse. The 2024 Patriots had one of the worst rosters in the NFL, and on multiple occasions Drake Maye made something out of nothing. He was the only element of last season that gave any of us any real hope or excitement, and he’s a big part of the reason why we’re excited for 2025 and beyond. So drafting Maye was an easy choice for the best moment of last year.
Check out some 2024 Drake Maye highlights here.
Maybe this will all backfire on me. This isn’t the first time I have had the Patriots drafting a quarterback this high on my list, and that one didn’t end too well. But I don’t know; Maye just feels a little different. It’s far too soon to see which of these three teams got the best quarterback of the 2024 NFL Draft. All have shown promise, with Daniels leading his team all the way to the NFC Championship Game last year. But I like our chances with Maye. I love what he brings to the table, and I can’t wait to see what he’ll do under Mike Vrabel with a strong O-line and competent receivers at his disposal.
And now, finally, I can put this season to bed. Why I decided to do this, I’ll never know. But when you start something, you finish it, and I’m happy to be finishing my countdown with what I’m hoping will represent the moment this team began their climb back to the top of the league. The good news is that we don’t have much longer to wait to see whether or not we’re trending in the right direction.
Thanks for reading, everyone—even the people who hated reading this series so much that they read every single moment on the countdown and didn’t waste any time telling me that I’m wasting my time by wasting their time. I appreciate all of you as well.
Time for a few weeks off, then it’s face-first into training camp and preseason. Opening Day is going to be here before we know it, so I hope you all get a nice chance to relax before the madness starts.
Go Patriots.