Following the final game of the season, when the New England Patriots got past the Buffalo Bills by a 23-16 score in a game when bench and backup players saw most of the action for both teams, one aspect of the otherwise ragged contest stood out: the remarkable performance of Patriots backup quarterback Joe Milton.
Milton’s accuracy, ability to make plays with his legs, and sheer overall athleticism prompted Patriots owner Robert Kraft to remark, âLooks like we lucked out, we maybe have two quarterbacks.â
Kraft was referring to Milton, a Patriots 2024 sixth-round draft pick, 193rd overall, out of Tennessee, and Drake Maye who appears to be the quarterback of the future for the franchise. After their 4-13 season in 2023, the Patriots held the third overall pick in the 2024 draft and used it on Maye, a two-time ACC passing yardage leader in his three seasons at North Carolina.
Maye took over the New England starting quarterback’s job from veteran Jacoby Brissett in Week Six against the Houston Texans and never gave it up, performing in impressive enough fashion to earn a Pro Bowl bid as an alternate.
Milton Opened Eyes With Season-Capping QB Outing
But in the otherwise meaningless season finale against Buffalo, Maye started and played the game’s first sequence for the Patriots, then took a seat and gave way to Milton. The former Volunteer, who earned 2023 Orange Bowl MVP honors in a 31-14 drubbing of Clemson, proceeded to complete 76 percent of his passes for 241 yards and a touchdown. Milton also ran for a touchdown and committed no turnovers for a final passer rating of 111.4.
At one point, Milton sidearmed a pass into the end zone that would have been a touchdown had it not been wiped out by a Patriots penalty. But the most notable thing about it was that the toss was thrown with the second-highest velocity of any pass ever recorded in the NFL, 62 mph.
With Maye, as long as he remains healthy, seeming to hold a firm grip on the starter’s job in Foxborough, Milton’s eye-opening performance quickly set off talk that the Patriots could add much-needed draft capital by trading Milton. That view was supported on Thursday by NFL analyst and former Dallas Cowboys offensive lineman Brian Baldinger, who was on hand in Mobile, Alabama to assess practices for Saturday’s Senior Bowl â a college All-Star game that serves as a showcase for NFL prospects.
Baldinger: Milton a Better Option Than Any Senior Bowl QB
Baldinger was unimpressed with what he saw from Senior Bowl quarterback prospects â and said that teams should try to acquire Milton instead of adding a signal caller through the draft.
“After watching some of these guys at the Senior Bowl, I might think Joe Milton is my very best option if I’m looking for a quarterback right now,” Baldinger said, according to the SI.com Tennessee Volunteers site. “You might just be doing some backflips if you pull the string and negotiate with the Patriots for his services.”
Milton has already been linked, though loosely, to several teams looking to add a quarterback or replace one. The Cleveland Browns may be the most likely trade destination for Milton, with scandal-ridden and now injured quarterback Deshaun Watson possibly on the way out, and only fifth-rounder Dorian Thompson-Robinson and practice squad player, and former Patriots backup, Bailey Zappe to pick up the slack.
Like Heavy Sports’s content? Be sure to follow us.
This article was originally published on Heavy Sports
The post Trade Value of Patriots $4.2 Million QB Rises After Senior Bowl Week: NFL Expert appeared first on Heavy Sports.