Patriots Roster Projection

By Steve Atkinson 

The Patriots are poised to have only Drake Maye on their roster from the 2024 NFL Draft. It’s quite unfortunate that the rest of the draft class will either be cut or will no longer be on the roster. Only Drake Maye is set to emerge as the starting quarterback heading into the 2025 season. We all know the reason Robert Kraft didn’t hire Mike Vrabel in 2024 or Ryan Cowden: he promised Jerod Mayo the job and wanted to avoid the complications of the Rooney Rule. Consequently, Eliot Wolf, who is still overseeing player personnel, is receiving assistance from Vrabel’s associate Ryan Cowden, but Cowden isn’t given the title of final decision-maker due to the necessity of a formal hiring process by the Kraft family.

After the final preseason game, the roster will be trimmed down. Expect Efton Chism to secure a spot, as he has had a strong training camp and preseason. Chism has a vibe reminiscent of Julian Edelman. I anticipate that players like Polk and Baker will be cut or traded, and I doubt Kendrick Bourne will make the final roster. However, rookie Kyle Williams is likely to earn a spot.

Good for Vrabel to Get Joe Milton Off the roster

Joe Milton’s absence from the Patriots isn’t solely to clear the way for Drake Maye. It also stems from the fact that many spoiled Patriots fans expect every player to be like Tom Brady. The way the fans handled the Mac Jones and Bailey Zappe situation was unreasonable. Mike Vrabel was not going to tolerate that kind of environment with Joe Milton and Drake Maye, so he made the right decision in trading Milton.

Here is a quote from Mike Vrabel the other day

I don’t think that that’s ever…I mean, we’re always trying to evaluate and improve. I can’t see a scenario where we’d ever not want to do that and continue to try to improve the roster or continue to evaluate who we think is going to give us the best chance to win, and also who has shown enough to want to work with on the practice squad. Again, we’ve talked about the different types of players that maybe will end up on the practice squad throughout the league, whether that’s a young developmental player or maybe somebody that can be called up for the game quickly on short notice.

As for Josh Dobbs, he poses no real competition for Drake Maye and will likely serve as the backup on the roster. The rookie running back out of Ohio State, Trey’von Henderson, is probably the fastest running back they’ve had. He’s going to make the team, but none of the 2024 draft class will except Drake Maye. That’s on ownership; it starts from the top.