New England Patriots quarterback Drake Maye impressed a lot of people as a rookie during the 2024 NFL season, including one of the best to ever play the position.
Maye was down in Florida last week for the 2025 NFL Pro Bowl. He was a late addition to the AFC roster.
Hall of Fame quarterback and longtime Patriots rival Peyton Manning has worked with Maye before. The UNC product actually attended the Manning Passing Academy in 2023.
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Manning also was down at the Pro Bowl last week, and when asked for his assessment of Maye after one season in New England, the two-time Super Bowl champion had lots of praise for the Patriots quarterback.
“You can tell he’s a natural leader," Manning told reporters. "And then when you watch him throw -- which Eli (Manning) and I get to do down there, we get to spend time with the college quarterbacks -- his arm just jumps out at you, and then his athletic ability. And the fact that he got to play so much as a rookie."
“That’s what New England fans want to have - a quarterback who’s a great competitor that has a lot of pride.”
— New England Patriots (@Patriots) January 31, 2025
Peyton Manning discusses @DrakeMaye2 at this year's #ProBowlGames pic.twitter.com/D6vb3mJjVC
Another aspect of Maye's leadership that Manning admires is the way he handles himself after games, regardless of the outcome. Maye doesn't point fingers when things aren't going well.
“You see Drake, he’s very accountable," Manning said. "When things go well, you see him giving credit to his receivers and linemen. When things don’t go well, you see him starting with himself. He had that great comeback and he threw potentially the game-winning touchdown and didn’t get the two-point conversion. You heard him — it’s all he talked about, was the one that he didn’t get.
"So I like that. I like guys that are honest and aren’t trying to hide from it. And he owns it. I think all those things are just gonna serve him well.”
Manning also likes Maye's competitive fire.
"He had a competitive family growing up. He's got a lot of pride," Manning said. "I think that's what New England fans want to have is a great quarterback who's a great competitor and has a lot of pride. I think that will be good for him."
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One of the next steps for the Patriots to maximize Maye's talent and potential is to surround him with more elite talent on offense. The Patriots had arguably the league's worst group of wide receivers during the 2024 season, and the offensive line also struggled mightily in pass protection and took too many penalties.
Luckily for the Patriots, they have the No. 4 pick in the 2025 NFL Draft, plus a league-high $120 million in salary cap space to use in free agency and the trade market. It won't be easy, but the Patriots have the resources to give Maye more weapons.