Would you quite have Drake Maye or Bill Belichick on the Patriots?

Patriots

Be careful, Patriots fans.

No, don't worry – I'm not going to indicate you a recap of Jerod Mayo's most passive coaching decisions. I don't have the essential 2 hours and 45 minutes in the meanwhile Theand I'm assuming you don't either.

For this reason, the warning is: What follows is the sort of column that comes from what I prefer to call the bye-week hypotheticals genre.

It's the sort of “What if, would you rather imagine?” Some extent that folks like me and my fellow sportswriters prefer to nitpick in the course of the local NFL team's bye week when feeding the content machine must, even when there isn’t any game that ensures a win or a loss, and all of the pieces, details and conclusions that function a living for per week.

So, here's my obligatory and somewhat irresistible bye week hypothesis.

Don't say I didn't warn you, but I'll do my best to place the content into context:

Would you quite have Bill Belichick because the Patriots' head coach or Drake Maye as your quarterback at once?

As someone who didn't need to see Belichick go, even after a 4-13 record in 2023 and a series of mostly strange to questionable personnel decisions, the reply is straightforward.

It's Maye, without hesitation or perhaps a hint of a second thought.

Maybe most of you agree with this. I hope it’s a large majority.

Now Belichick is absolutely the best coach in NFL history, and you possibly can argue amongst yourselves about who is available in second.

With six Super Bowl victories as a head coach in an era designed to thwart would-be dynasties, and two more as a superstar assistant coach with Bill Parcells' Giants, his unique place on the rostrum is definite.

Yes, he had Tom Brady, the best quarterback of all time, similar to every other exceptional coach because the days of leather helmets has had exceptional players. If you need to argue that Belichick was successful only Because of Brady, I suggest you have a look at the bookend Super Bowl victories over the Rams 17 seasons apart – probably for the primary time, right? – after which devour every little thing NFL Films has done with him over time. (FYI: Skip the “Dynasty” doc on Apple TV+. Trust me, it won’t help.)

The Krafts' decision to fireplace Belichick after 24 seasons hurt, and the farce that it was a mutual farewell was borderline offensive. His unparalleled institutional knowledge of all things football, particularly his defensive expertise, will probably be sorely missed by the present Patriots.

I fully expect Belichick – who turns 73 in April – to be back in coaching next season and to achieve success again as he pursues Don Shula's all-time winning record. His various television appearances appear to reinvigorate him while also serving their true purpose: reminding potential employers that nobody knows the sport higher than this surprisingly funny guy who chats with the Manning brothers every Monday night.

But if the selection, as presented in our bye week hypothesis, is to have a then-legendary coach leading a poor Patriots squad he built, or to have a 22-year-old quarterback who made eight starts has on his roster Since your profession has all of the makings of a franchise cornerstone, the selection is straightforward.

You put the past aside. You sprint into the long run. You take the quarterback. You take Maye, undoubtedly.

Now I imagine a few of you habitual contrarians would say, “Why couldn't the Patriots do both – keep Belichick, sign Maye and go from there?”

A good query, and I believe the reply is pretty clear, even though it consists more of anecdotal evidence than any certainty:

I don't think Belichick would have drafted Maye with the No. 3 overall pick in April's NFL Draft.

Belichick, who was a standout on Pat McAfee's draft night program, each praised and criticized the North Carolina quarterback. But he didn't seem as confident in him as he was in, say, Michigan's JJ McCarthy, who went eleventh overall to the Vikings.

Some of Belichick's draft night comments about Maye:

• “He didn’t play much. He really doesn't have much experience. He will need some work reading defenses and coverages. He's pretty quick to pull out of the bag. He’s got to hang in there a little bit and find those receivers.”

• “Drake compares himself a lot [to] Josh Allen – we’ll see. There are some similarities in terms of size, but Josh Allen is a special player.”
• “This is a kid who can make all the throws, he just needs to be more consistent.”

I might say Belichick recognized Mayes' outstanding potential, but viewed him as a rookie who might need no less than a season as a backup player before seeing the sphere. That's not a nasty assessment in any respect, because it's a surprise to most of us that Maye has played at such a high level since taking up because the starter against the Texans in Week 6. His talent was obvious, his demeanor is remarkable given the issue of playing behind a patchwork offensive line, and he looks as if a natural leader, the sort who will let you know a mistake was his fault and you think that He thinks that way, though it obviously wasn't his fault in any respect.

Belichick won’t ever admit it, especially if Maye continues his rocket ride, but I bet he would have traded down – perhaps with the Giants at No. 6 – and picked up some extra draft capital while making a tackle at that spot McCarthy took it.

Therefore, we must view this Belichick-or-Maye hypothesis as a real either/or situation. Given that there isn’t any more vital position in skilled sports than quarterback, and that it often takes multiple tries (see: Mac Jones, Jacksonville) to seek out a reliable position at a young age, this doesn't actually present any difficulty.

The Patriots did rather a lot mistaken within the offseason, including how they handled the ultimate days of one of the best coach they are going to ever have. But they got crucial thing right: They present in Maye a quarterback able to improving the franchise from what it had achieved within the seasons before his arrival.