Yup, I posted about that yesterday but at this point, I know that AP and DQ have to feel the same, even if it doesn't look like it now. I mean we did offer Pierce more than Indy and we made a run at Doubs. That's why I feel like in the draft we are going Love or most likely a WR since Love won't be there and then adding Aiyuk to that
Agree, he tried. But I do think his sort of half speed efforts in the first two years to help Jayden have take at least a little toll that might have seeped into this FA. Drake Maye now is the exciting savior QB, not so much Jayden. And we got Doubs basically saying he took less money than what Washington offered because he wanted to play with Drake.
IMO part of the demise of the perception about Jayden being the dude was even though he played with the crappiest WR crew in the NFL -- no one grades you on a curve, it is what it is for him. Hopefully lesson learned for Peters.
Here are 10 things from the Patriots' week of free agency.
www.espn.com
Why Pats QB Drake Maye was a good selling point to free agents
1. Maye Effect: A simple truth in free agency is that a team offering the most money usually gets the player. It also doesn't hurt to have a promising young quarterback.
That was a hard-to-miss theme from the initial Patriots' 2026 free agent class, a group headlined by receiver
Romeo Doubs, safety
Kevin Byard III, guard
Alijah Vera-Tucker, outside linebacker
Dre'Mont Jones, fullback
Reggie Gilliam and tight end
Julian Hill.
Call it the Drake Maye Effect.
Byard, entering his 11th NFL season, summed it up after spending the last two seasons with the
Chicago Bears and being part of
Caleb Williams' rise.
"An ascending quarterback; it's one of the hardest things to get right in the NFL, and everybody is trying to do that. New England has it right with
Drake Maye. I'm excited to be able to play with him," Byard explained after officially signing his one-year, $9 million contract in New England on Thursday.
"I had basically two teams I wanted to play for this offseason. With the year we had in Chicago, that was going to be the first option. Once I saw that wasn't going to work out, it was New England. ... Drake Maye is a phenomenal player. I've heard nothing but great things about him from multiple people in the organization even before I got here."
Maye, who finished as the runner-up for the NFL's Most Valuable Player Award to Rams quarterback
Matthew Stafford, was present at the Patriots' facility Thursday to greet many of the newest Patriots.
"When I walked in, I saw him for the first time and I was like, 'Wow, he's bigger than I expected,'" said Gilliam, the hard-charging fullback who spent the first six years of his career in Buffalo alongside quarterback
Josh Allen. "[Drake] has a lot of the same qualities as Josh. I believe in him a ton and am anxious to see what he can do."
Doubs, the former Packers receiver who signed a four-year contract worth up to $80 million, added that he's already connected with Maye, whom he referred to as a "great young quarterback."
Maye's performance tailed off in the postseason, in part from facing some of the NFL's top-rated defenses. The Patriots' free agent approach highlighted one way they believed they could help him bounce back.
By targeting physical run-first players such as Gilliam and Hill and a former first-round pick on the offensive line in Vera-Tucker, their hope is that an improved running game leads to a more well-rounded offense that makes Maye more dangerous in the passing game. And they might not be done adding around Maye, with the possibility of trading for receiver A.J. Brown still in play.
Jones and Vera-Tucker shared even when things didn't go right for Maye last season, they noticed he never wavered. Jones pointed out how his Ravens team led by 11 points in the fourth quarter of a late December game, only to see Maye and the Patriots storm back for a 28-24 win.
"I thought we were going to get in his head, but he turned everything around. That game showed he doesn't get rattled," said Jones, who had sacked Maye earlier in the game (and in a Week 7 contest while playing for the Titans).
Added Vera-Tucker: "I'm really excited, man. Obviously playing against him, I've seen what he can do. Besides being a great football player, I've heard he's a great guy, too, able to connect with his teammates. You want to come in and protect a guy like that."
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