New England Patriots links 4/24/24 – Beyond the smoke: QB Drake Maye consensus No. 3 pick

Daily news and links for Wednesday.

TEAM TALK

• Patriots 2024 Mock Draft Tracker.
• Paul Perillo’s NFL Notes: iI’s time to break down some thoughts on how things will unfold in this year’s draft.
• From NFL Network: Predictions for Patriots’ selection at No. 34 overall ‘Path to the Draft’. (3.22 min. video)
• Patriots unfiltered: Draft rumors, weighing trade-down scenarios, best fits. (2 hours)
• Photos: Day 1 of voluntary veteran minicamp.

LOCAL LINKS

• Alex Barth drafts for the Patriots, pick-by-pick.
• Andy Hart explains how the Patriots’ draft prospect rumors have come full circle. Amidst plenty of smoke, it seems and feels the Pats will take QB Drake Maye at No. 3. Most media outlets want him. Most fans seem to want him.
• The Boston Globe staff weighs on what the Patriots should do with the No. 3 pick and what they will do. [Free]
• Taylor Kyles posts his dream scenario Patriots 7-round mock draft. Pats pick QB Drake Maye at No. 3
• Doug Kyed retraces the Patriots’ timeline of studying QB prospects.
• Karen Guregian offers a cheat sheet on a possible QB target if the Patriots trade out from No. 3.
• Mark Daniels notes that according to one source, the Patriots have fielded calls and trade offers for their first-round pick. However… those offers were “laughable” and not close to getting the Patriots to move down.
• Karen Guregian talks with noted draft guru Dane Brugler, who puts the J.J. McCarthy hype into context.
• Taylor Kyles’ Patriots 2024 Draft Big Board: Offensive tackles. The Pats have a short-term plan at tackle, but expect them to capitalize on a draft class full of potential long-term solutions.
• Phil Perry examines the best Defensive Tackle fits for New England in this year’s draft. Should the Patriots invest a Day 3 pick in a big-bodied DT?
• Sara Marshall discusses three offseason moves that will backfire on the Patriots.
• Rhys Knott spotlights 5 receivers the Patriots can only hope fall to them in 2024 NFL Draft.
• Karen Guregian highlights draft analyst Dane Brugler, projecting late-round sleeper WR Bub Means for the Patriots.
• Tom E. Curran carries the Kraft’s water by clarifying for them that Jonathan Kraft isn’t directly involved in personnel decisions. /Hm… “directly” is a weaselly ‘badverb’.
• Adam London notes Scott Zolak refutes the latest rumor that Jonathan Kraft is heavily involved in the 3rd-round pick: ‘Jonathan’s not running the football part of it’. /Of course that enters semantics territory. Does “the football part of it” mean ‘plays on Sundays’ or does it include ‘draft picks and personnel’?
• Andrew Callahan takes an in-depth look at Eliot Wolf, with Thursday’s draft as his first meaningful step out of his father’s shadow and toward the Patriots’ major rebuild.
• Locked On Patriots podcast: Mike D’Abate guest Damian Parson (The Draft Network) breaks down the scouting reports of the top QBs in the draft based on their potential fit in New England, and other Pats needs. (41 min.)

NATIONAL NEWS

• Myles Simmons (ProFootballTalk) Patriots bring in LB Cam Gill for a tryout.
• Charean Williams (ProFootballTalk) Report: Patriots haven’t received a “serious” offer for the third pick.
• Charles Robinson (Yahoo! Sports) NFL Draft nuggets: Let’s start with the Drake Maye and J.J. McCarthy intersection and go from there.
• Jonathan Jones (CBS Sports) NFL insider notebook: Raiders’ QB draft plan with Jayden Daniels out of reach; should ‘raw’ Drake Maye sit?
• Jordan Dajani (CBS Sports) Buying or selling biggest Draft rumors: Separating the merit from the nonsense.
• Danny Heifetz (The Ringer) Which teams at the top of the NFL draft should be trading? Let’s play ‘Deal or no deal.’
• Danny Kelly (The Ringer) NFL Mock Draft: What If the Patriots trade down? /Heads explode in New England?
• NFL Nation (ESPN) 2024 NFL mock draft. Patriots: Mike Reiss picks QB Drake Maye at No. 3. ‘In this mock, Minnesota offered No. 11, No. 23 and a 2025 first-round pick for the third pick — a deal that was turned down after consulting with Patriots sources on what it would have taken to move up to this pick. One thing is known: The Patriots are targeting a quarterback. One thing remains a wild card: Which quarterback they believe suits them best. The hunch is Maye’s combination of physical traits and intangibles wins out in the end.’
• Mike Florio (ProFootballTalk) Report: Giants explore trading up, possibly for QB Drake Maye.
• Mike Florio (ProFootballTalk) Could offering Justin Jefferson get Vikings to No. 2?
• Tom Pelissero (NFL.com) Four potential surprise first-rounders.
• Austin Gayle (The Ringer) Hoping to draft the next Puka Nacua? Look no further than these six late-round prospects.
• Jay Busbee (Yahoo! Sports) The NFL Draft’s ‘secret round’: Players still on the board after the draft’s third round might be better off going undrafted than getting picked in the late rounds?
• Michael David Smith (ProFootballTalk) Jayden Daniels says he’ll try to pass Michael Vick, Lamar Jackson as best running QB ever.
• Bucky Brooks (NFL.com) 2024 NFL mock draft 4.0. Pats pick QB Drake Maye at No. 3.
• Eric Edholm (NFL.com) 2024 NFL mock draft 3.0: Six QBs; three trades. Pats pick QB Drake Maye at No. 3.

EXTRACURRICULAR

• Mike Florio (ProFootballTalk) Bears want $2.3 billion in public financing for new stadium project. /Don’t do it, taxpayers!
• Mike Florio (ProFootballTalk) Local official wants NFL to kick in $100 million for upgrades to Bengals stadium.