The striking parallel with Tom Brady that underscores Drake Maye's struggles with the Patriots
Maye has seven turnovers through three games
The optimism surrounding Drake Maye has faded faster than almost anyone in the New England Patriots organization expected, after a breakout 2025 raised expectations around the former No. 3 overall pick.
Maye has opened 2026 NFL season with turnovers, inconsistent decision-making and a brutal 35-6 loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars in which Mike Vrabel eventually removed him from the game.
And Colin Cowherd sees the problems as he just does not believe the 24-year-old quarterback should shoulder all of the blame as his argument comes down to personnel.
Maye has lost wide receivers Kayshon Boutte and Stefon Diggs from the receiving corps he worked with previously, whilst A.J. Brown has been sidelined since suffering an injury in the season opener against the Seattle Seahawks .
“It’s amazing to me, the world, everybody in Boston is selling Drake Maye’s stock,” Cowherd said on The Herd. “I’m not, and here’s why: Remember, he’s a young, ascending, developing quarterback.
“The greatest quarterback we’ve ever seen in his last year in New England, where he got beat by the Titans in a home playoff game,” Cowherd said. “The greatest quarterback ever. Nobody could get open.
“So if Brady struggled, what’s Drake Maye gonna do if he’s learning the position and Mack Hollins is his guy?”
Hollins and Romeo Doubs , who the Green Bay Packers were happy to part ways with, are now the leaders of a diminished group and that’s why Cowherd sees shades of Brady ’s final Patriots season.
The comparison is not that Maye has reached Brady ’s level. Cowherd ’s point is that even an eventual seven-time Super Bowl champion struggled when New England could not consistently give him enough receiving help.
Maye accepts responsibility after seven turnovers
That context matters, but it does not erase Maye ’s own mistakes, and Vrabel made clear after the Jacksonville loss that ball security has become a major concern after a comical fumble by the QB.
“We have to take care of the football. We can’t force things,” Vrabel said, and Maye did not disagree with his head coach’s assessment ahead of a Week 4 meeting with the Buffalo Bills .
“I can’t get out of my own way personally,” Maye said. “So, I got to look myself in the mirror and take this as a turning point.”
He later described New England ’s offensive performance through the opening three weeks as “unacceptable”, but the encouraging part for the Patriots is that the locker room does not appear to be wavering.
“Everybody in that locker room and the organization and in the building believes in him. “That’s our quarterback,” cornerback Christian Gonzalez said and Maye now has an immediate opportunity to change the conversation with a road game against Buffalo .
Quarterbacks can elevate an offense only so far but his turnovers have to decrease, regardless of who is available at receiver - although Cowherd ’s Brady comparison adds important context to the debate surrounding him.
