Patriots' Drake Maye Honored With First-Ever Captaincy

The announcement of Maye being named one of the captains is extra significant, as he only heads into his second year of his career in the league.

Maye will now have a "C" on his jersey throughout the season for the first time. He was drafted as the No. 3 overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft and was the first Patriot since Drew Bledsoe to be selected in the top five since 1993. Maye signed a four-year fully-guaranteed contract worth $36.64 million back in May, 2024.

The second-year signal caller and Week 1 starter actually topped the list of captains following a rookie campaign that produced a Pro Bowl selection and more than 2,200 passing yards.

At 23-years-old, Maye already has leadership experience in a captain role before. He was voted as a team captain during his 2022 redshirt freshman season while at North Carolina. The North Carolina native finished his career at UNC after being named the ACC Rookie of the Year (2022) and being named a Manning Award Finalist (2023).

New head coach Mike Vrabel even previously said he is excited to see Maye's leadership grow this year — both in the locker room and on the field.

"Well, it's not that it's lacking. I just — I always want more," Vrabel said. "I think I have to as a coach. I think that we always want to try to take a player and we want to meet them where they're at and then be able to improve on that. So, there's no finished products no matter what."

This preseason Maye completed seven on 12 attempted completions. The return of Josh McDaniels as offensive coordinator also suggests a more balanced and adaptable approach to the offense which could lead to cleaner pockets and more consistent production from Maye.

Overall — a quarterback is known to be a natural leader of a football team, so Maye being officially named a captain with having the expectations fulfill certain leadership roles for a Patriots franchise under Vrabel makes complete sense.