Patriots sign first-round pick QB Drake Maye

Drake Maye, the New England Patriots' first-round draft pick and likely future quarterback, signed a four-year rookie contract on Tuesday.

Financial terms were not disclosed by the Patriots, but as the third overall pick in April's draft, Maye is expected to receive a fully guaranteed $36.63 million contract with a $23.46 million signing bonus based on the rookie wage scale.

All first-round picks' contracts include a team option for a fifth year.

Maye starred at North Carolina in 2022 and 2023, and he was the third quarterback off the board last month, following Southern California's Caleb Williams and LSU's Jayden Daniels, who went 1-2 to the Chicago Bears and Washington Commanders.

The Patriots traded former first-round pick Mac Jones to the Jacksonville Jaguars to back up Trevor Lawrence, so Maye is expected to compete for the starting job as a rookie, with veteran Jacoby Brissett as his main competition.

Jerod Mayo, who replaced the legendary Bill Belichick as New England's head coach this year, said this month that his "early impressions" of Maye were that "he has a lot to work on, but I have no doubt that he'll put the work in."

SportsLigue