Patriots beat writer addresses concerning Drake Maye, Joe Milton III report

Eyebrows were understandably raised last week when it was suggested that sixth-round draft pick Joe Milton III outperformed Drake Maye, this year's draft's No. 3 pick, among New England Patriots quarterbacks during training camp practices.

Patriots beat writer Chris Mason of MassLive poured cold water over such takes in a mailbag published on Thursday.

"This storyline has been aggressively stupid," Mason said. "Maybe the dumbest at camp since I started covering the team. Right now, Jacoby Brissett is clearly the starter, Maye is the backup and Milton is battling with Bailey Zappe for the third-string job. Milton hasn’t even won that one yet."

Brissett entered training camp comfortably atop the depth chart and may have already established himself as the Patriots' QB1 ahead of their preseason opener against the Carolina Panthers on Thursday. As of Thursday afternoon, DraftKings Sportsbook continued to list Brissett as the heavy betting favorite at -900 odds to start over Maye (+550) for New England's Week 1 game at the Cincinnati Bengals on Sept. 8.

"They’re not tasking [Milton] with close to the same responsibility as Maye," Mason continued. "Nothing against Milton, but he looks like a sixth-round rookie right now. His arm strength is extraordinary, but there are times when he’s throwing the same fastball on a 50-yard go ball as a 5-yard slant. He needs to work on his touch. Maye may be a bit raw, but at this point, he’s still a lot more polished than Milton."

The rebuilding Patriots drafted Maye for the future and likely realized before April's NFL Draft that he wouldn't be ready to face a live defense in a meaningful game by the start of the regular season. While Milton seemingly has impressed some onlookers during training camp, New England could want to hold onto Zappe through at least the first half of the 2024 campaign if Brissett goes down with an injury.

Zappe isn't New England's long-term answer at the position. Still, it could become a break-glass-in-case-of-emergency option, allowing Maye to continue developing as an unused backup if Brissett becomes unavailable before the club's Week 14 bye.