Patriots had zero hesitation picking Drake Maye in the NFL Draft

New England picked Maye third overall on Thursday night.

The New England Patriots made the call for quarterback Drake Maye as soon as they came on the clock with the No. 3 overall pick. They knew that would be the call they would make for weeks.

“We knew a long time ago that Washington was going with Daniels so we were able to make our pick, and we’re really happy about that,” director of scouting Eliot Wolf said after the selection. “[We knew for] weeks.”

Both Wolf and head coach Jerod Mayo said they had “no” hesitation with the selection, so much so that the trade offers that came across their desk over the past few weeks never gained any serious traction.

“We had some conversations with other teams, but ultimately, we felt like Drake was the player that we wanted and we had the opportunity to get him,” Wolf said. “I don’t say they were constant, but there were different points throughout the process where there were trades, but all along we knew we were in a unique opportunity here to get a quarterback that we liked, and we were obviously able to do that.”

New England met with Maye several times throughout the process, including meetings at the NFL Combine, in Foxboro on an official visit and in North Carolina at his Pro Day — where nine members of the Patriots coaching/scouting staff were in attendance.

“I would say just getting a chance to spend time with Mack Brown and asking him questions about Drake really helped me get the full picture,” Jerod Mayo said of the visit. “Look, this guy is very competitive. He would literally miss one question and he’ll be on himself about it, but we like that competitive nature, that striving for perfection, and he showed us that.”

Despite the several meetings in person, Mayo also walked away impressed with Maye’s toughness on film, which drew a comparison to his former quarterback.

“One thing about Drake, and we kind of talked about it this past year, they also had some holes on offense, and the thing that most impressed me about him, he would get smashed and just get right back up,” he said. “That’s the same trait — you had a guy like Tom Brady — not saying that he’s Tom, but just that mentality. Same thing with Joe Burrow. Those guys just keep getting back up and continuing to play at a high level, and that was like the aha moment for me.”

Maye will now be en route to Foxboro where he’ll first be seen on the field during rookie minicamp from May 10-11. But, the work begins immediately for the No. 3 overall pick.

“A guy like Drake has all the natural ability that you want. He can make all the throws,” Mayo said. “Really it’s about getting to the playbook. It’s going to be a different scheme. One thing about our playbook offensively, we’re going to be a game plan offense and we’re going to tailor our offensive game plan to whoever the quarterback is. We’ll see how that pans out. But excited to get him out there with the guys and the coaches.”