Mike Vrabel Didn’t Want A Quarterback Competition

By Steve Atkinson 

Joe Milton was drafted in the sixth round last year as a backup quarterback. In contrast, Drake Maye was drafted third overall and started midway through last season after Jacoby Brissett struggled. Jerod Mayo wanted to start Maye from the beginning, but he was overruled. There have been reports that Drake Maye’s family didn’t approve of the Patriots drafting Joe Milton. From Milton’s demeanor last year behind closed doors, it seemed he believed he deserved to be the starting quarterback over Maye, but that was never going to happen. The Patriots faced a similar issue in the past.

Some spoiled Patriots fans expect every quarterback to be like Tom Brady. A few years ago, there was significant pressure to start Bailey Zappe over Mac Jones, which created tension in the locker room. The so-called “Zappe Fever” was ridiculous and emerged solely because Mac Jones was struggling. Fans overlooked the fact that Matt Patricia, a career defensive coach, was the offensive coordinator. They clamored for Zappe until he, too, started playing poorly. Belichick ruined Mac Jones and ultimately got himself fired due to his ego and the illusion of a quarterback competition.

Joe Milton was in the way and Mike Vrabel saw that

Now, Mike Vrabel is stepping in and taking charge. He recognizes that Maye is the franchise quarterback, and nothing will stand in the way of that. They acquired veteran backup Josh Dobbs, who understands his role, and traded Joe Milton to the Cowboys for a fifth-round pick, as Milton did not grasp his place on the team. Vrabel made a good decision to start the off-season program without someone who doesn’t prioritize the team’s needs. It’s fine to be confident, but Milton appeared overconfident. Vrabel determined that Milton wasn’t a good cultural fit, leading to his trade.

The timing, according to a source familiar with the team’s thinking, wasn’t a coincidence. Monday marks the start of the team’s voluntary program, and Vrabel views that as a meaningful checkpoint in the process of establishing team culture and the dynamic that ideally unfolds within each position group

Mike Vrabel wanted a clean slate with Maye

The off-season program begins on Monday, and now Maye can enter it without feeling pressure from someone competing for his job. He knows he’s the starter and can start learning Josh McDaniels’s offense, along with some concepts from last year.

People can call Drake Maye a baby, but really do you want what happened a couple of years ago? That outside noise of a quarterback competition and the distraction in the locker room? I really don’t think it was a good idea to keep Milton and start fresh with nobody getting in Drake’s way.

The Patriots] said to [Dobbs] in no uncertain terms that, ‘We don’t want competition in the room for Drake right now. What we’re looking for is a resource,’” Breer said on 98.5 The Sports Hub’s “Toucher and Hardy.” “They had sort of signaled to him that this was a likelihood, that they would wind up moving on from Joe Milton. So, they had shopped Joe Milton around a bunch.”