New England Patriots franchise quarterback, Drake Maye, gets sacked by Buffalo Bills defensive end, Von Miller, January 5, 2025.
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New England Patriots franchise quarterback, Drake Maye, gets sacked by Buffalo Bills defensive end, Von Miller, January 5, 2025.
The New England Patriots are in the zone heading into 2025. Whilst they still may not have the best offense in the NFL, they certainly made strong offseason additions in both the skill positions and the trenches.
The additions of offensive linemen, Will Campbell, Garrett Bradbury and Morgan Moses, will help to stabilize a previously abhorrent unit. Running back, TreVeyon Henderson will former a lethal two-headed monster downhill with Rhamondre Stevenson. And receiver, Stefon Diggs, will attempt to once again lead a previously struggling unit to aid the development of young QB, Drake Maye.
Patriots Still Have A Long Way To Go
And whilst the hype is – as it should be – high on the ultra-talented Maye, who demonstrated some elite-level capabilities in his rookie season despite playing on one of the (if not the) worst team in football, two very familiar faces are encouraging the fans and media to take a step back and not get ahead of themselves.
Julian Edelman and Rob Gronkowski, on their podcast, “Dudes on Dudes”, told Pats fans to breathe a bit and not get too carried away with wild expectations coming into the 2025 season, issuing one key message: ‘pump the breaks’.
Edelman and Gronk on Patriots quarterback Drake Maye:
“Let’s pump the breaks”
🎥: @DudesOnDudesPod pic.twitter.com/o5Wh5o5qzf
— Savage (@SavageSports_) May 30, 2025
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Edelman and Gronk Urge Reasonable Expectations Ahead of 2025 Season
“Drake Maye’s a great quarterback, has a good team around him now.” Gronkowski said on the podcast, “I can see him being a top-five candidate for MVP in the future, maybe year three, four, five, or something along those lines. He’s not gonna be a top-five candidate this year.
“A little too soon,” Edelman continued, “He’s well on his way becoming a good football player. Can’t throw him great yet, there’s too many variables in this sport for him to just have that crazy of a leap. New offensive coordinator, so he’s gonna be juggling new protections, new calls, new language, and new players to get used to. Let’s pump the breaks – let’s just try to make the playoffs before we talk about MVP.”
Top-five is certainly a little rich for Maye, who had just over 2,200 passing yards in 2024, with 15 touchdowns and 10 interceptions.
Granted the team -and head coach, in new addition, Mike Vrabel – is substantially upgraded. But the former UNC star still has much to prove on the field before we can, in earnest look at him as anything approaching one of the elite quarterbacks in the league.
Right now Maye is 66/1 to win MVP, so it is clear that the bookmakers are not quite on the same level of hype-train as some New England fans. But Edelman is correct: be competitive against the Buffalo Bills, get to the playoffs, and then the Pats and their fans can start to talk about whether Maye is one of the top signal callers in the NFL.