For most of the season, we’ve seen statistics that encapsulate why Drake Maye is one of one. He’s the first NFL quarterback, for example, to ever have a game with a 90-plus completion percentage, 250-plus passing yards and five touchdowns.
There are several more examples. But it’s not the specific stats that matter, really. It’s that Maye did something unprecedented: the first.
On Sunday, he has the chance to be the 35th quarterback to win a Super Bowl. The 35th. But he’d also be the first, in a way. At age 23, he’d be the youngest QB to win a Super Bowl.
I wonder if these different ways to measure Maye stem from what’s also inescapably true: He’d be the second Patriots quarterback to win a Super Bowl.
You know which Patriots quarterback was the first to win a Lombardi Trophy. And the second. And third, fourth, fifth, sixth. And you know that being No. 2 to that guy is actually something of an achievement.
When talking about a quarterback’s legacy in New England, there is obviously a gold standard.
It’s Tom Brady.
Most NFL quarterbacks don’t even enter the conversation when discussing Brady’s greatness. And if they do, they do so undeservedly. We have seen Patrick Mahomes slide into the chat, deservedly so. Time will tell if the three-time Super Bowl champion Chiefs QB is a real competitor. But by playing for the Patriots and on the same field where Brady’s banners hang, Maye’s legacy will always live in proximity to Brady’s.
The question is whether it’s a dynamic where Joe Montana and Steve Young upheld an organization from one era to the next in equally respectable ways. Or whether it’s a dynamic totally unto itself.
But, OK, back to Drake Maye. This Super Bowl is about him — if he wins it. So let’s look more closely at his (short) career. And we’ll do what we can to ignore that other guy.
This is Maye’s chance to begin his own era of Patriots history. And what a way to open it.
There will be naysayers who claim this Patriots team is one of the worst in Super Bowl history. Those naysayers weren’t watching this season. Those naysayers don’t know how hard it is to win 18 games — even with an easy schedule. And those naysayers are ignoring the defenses Maye faced. He’s the first QB — there’s that phrase again — to beat three top-five total defenses in a single postseason run.
There’s a myth that Maye didn’t beat any good quarterbacks along the way. Again, I’m not sure I understand that argument. Yes, he avoided Lamar Jackson, Joe Burrow and Bo Nix due to their injuries. But Maye took down Josh Allen, Justin Herbert and Baker Mayfield this season. And if the Patriots win the Super Bowl, Maye will add Sam Darnold. Allen may be the only elite quarterback on that list, but we can all agree that’s a quality group of signal-callers.
Josh Allen hugs Drake Maye after the Bills beat the Patriots 35-31 at Gillette Stadium in December. New England hasn’t lost since. (Photo by Kathryn Riley/Getty Images)
Haters will hate. Especially when you win it all.
There’s so much to like about what Maye did this year. He was the most improved quarterback in the NFL, rising into the MVP conversation after looking extremely raw last year — throwing 15 touchdowns and 10 interceptions in 12 games. That second-year improvement was so exponential that it is unlike anything I’ve seen covering the league. It’s a rise that Allen took in his third year. It’s a rise that Mahomes took in his second year — though he was a backup in Year 1. He sat back and watched. Maye dropped back and took 34 sacks in 12 starts and 13 appearances last season.
As far as developmental prospects go, Maye is unlike anyone we’ve seen — he’s progressed from below average quarterback to, arguably, the NFL’s best.
A part of what Maye has accomplished is about those who’ve supported him, from coach Mike Vrabel to offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels to tight end Hunter Henry and running back Rhamondre Stevenson. Another part of what Maye accomplished is about who he supported.
Every team wants a quarterback who can lift his supporting cast. That’s what most appealed to Patriots de-facto general manager Eliot Wolf about Maye’s time at North Carolina. It’s what has materialized in New England this year, with Maye making do without any bona fide playmakers. Every other Patriots offensive skill player comes with a “yeah but,” from veteran WR1 Stefon Diggs (ACL recovery and age) to Henry (past his prime) to Stevenson (splits time with rookie running back TreVeyon Henderson) to Henderson (change-of-pace back) to receivers Kayshon Boutte and DeMario Douglas (who?).
Maye makes those guys look good.
Drake Maye leads a huddle during the AFC Championship Game against the Broncos at Empower Field At Mile High in Denver. (Photo by Lauren Leigh Bacho/Getty Images)
It’s a similar story for the offensive line, which the front office revamped this year with four new starters. Maye has enhanced their performances. New England had the sixth-worst rushing success rate (37%) going into the Super Bowl and the eighth-worst rush EPA per play (-.108), per RBSDM.com. Despite that, Maye posted the best EPA per dropback (.25) — and that was despite pressure on 38.6% of those dropbacks — a number that put him with the likes of J.J. McCarthy (38.9%), Geno Smith (37.2%) and Cam Ward (37.2%).
New England does not boast a world-beating offensive line.
So you can choose to see the ways that Maye’s schedule didn’t challenge him. Which — by the way — is completely beyond his control. Or you can choose to see the ways in which Maye excelled at all the things he could control — the ways he found the answers to the test in 2025.
And then there’s one way that Maye would give us no choice but to discuss him in terms of Brady: Don’t just win on Sunday.
Win two Super Bowls.
Heck, win three.
I held out as long as I could when it came to Brady. But let’s end with story time about Tom. During a Fanatics event in May 2024, Maye and other NFL rookies got to sit down with Brady and ask questions. Maye, who’d only been a Patriot for a month, asked about something Brady once said, which was that his favorite Super Bowl was “the next one.” How did Brady maintain that mentality for two entire decades?
“I never looked back and said, ‘Hey we won the Super Bowl last year so we’re good this year,’” Brady told Maye. “If I wanted to win the next Sunday, the previous Sunday didn’t matter. … You’re going to win a game on opening weekend and, if you don’t do the exact same preparation — if you don’t step your game up — in Week 2, then you’re gonna get your ass handed to you.
“You better f—ing figure it out. You can’t learn only from your losses. You’ve got to learn from your wins, too. You’re going to get your ass kicked in some wins. There’s going to be games where you don’t play great and you win. You better learn from those.”
Something tells me that advice sunk in. And here’s why: Ahead of the AFC Championship Game, Maye was asked to share his favorite throw of his career. “Probably the next deep one,” he replied.
In the same press conference, he was asked about the AFC championship being the biggest game of his career.
“It’s the biggest game because it’s the next one,” Maye said.
Sounds familiar. And maybe Super Bowl Sunday will look familiar, too.
In the Big Picture, we contextualize key moves and moments so you can instantly understand why they matter.
