‘Tremendous’ Drake Maye can surpass Tom Brady in unique stat but Patriots risk losing A.J. Brown to Chiefs

For as long as he is on the New England Patriots, Drake Maye will have extra weight on his shoulders.

That is of course because he is following one of the greatest quarterbacks of all time‘s footsteps.

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On the surface, it feels unfair to be comparing a third-year quarterback to someone of Tom Brady‘s stature, but that comes part of the parcel of playing on the Patriots.

In his second-season, Maye led New England to Super Bowl LX, where they were soundly defeated by the Seattle Seahawks.

Throwing for 4,395 yards with 31 touchdowns in the regular season, Maye was controversially snubbed of the league’s MVP award, in favor of Los Angeles Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford.

Maye can get ahead of Brady in just his third season

2026 will be Maye’s third in the league, and he has a chance to separate himself from Brady in one category.

The 24-year-old led the league in completion percentage, with 72 percent of his attempts being successful.

If he can repeat his dominance in 2026, ESPN’s Mike Reiss points out that he can get a leg over Brady already.

“If Maye leads the NFL completion percentage for a second straight season, he will become the first Patriots player to accomplish the feat,” Reiss wrote.

“[He would become] the sixth NFL player since 1970 to do so, joining Joe Montana (1980-81), Ken Anderson (1982-83), Steve Young (1994-97), Kurt Warner (1999-2001) and Drew Brees (2009-2011, 2017-2019).”

2025 was also the first season under Patriots offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels, who clearly unlocked Maye’s potential.

Former NFL quarterback Brian Hoyer told ESPN his experience of being in McDaniels’ system for a second season.

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“This year, Drake is going to understand the ‘why’ on the majority of things, which is going to make him play even faster as far as progressions,” Hoyer said.

“And the wild card with him is just the athleticism. I thought he did a tremendous job last year knowing when to use it.

“Now, it will become an even bigger weapon because his mind will be sharper knowing what to do. To me, that’s the natural progression.”

Patriots could lose out on Maye weapon

A.J. Brown’s Philadelphia Eagles tenure appears to be over, and his future remains one of the biggest talking points as the offseason winds down.

He wasn’t present for the start of Philly’s voluntary offseason program, and will likely be dealt early next month.

Moving the Super Bowl LIX champion before June 1 would cost the Eagles $20.1 million in additional cap space.

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The receiver has long been linked to join Maye and the Patriots, in what would be a huge boost in the quarterback’s hopes of surpassing Brady in the aforementioned stat.

Bleacher Report’s Kristopher Knox believes the Kansas City Chiefs could swoop in and steal him away from New England.

“The Kansas City Chiefs should at least kick the tires on a trade, as the team lacks overall depth at the position and faces uncertainty surrounding top target Rashee Rice,” Knox wrote.

“[Adam] Schefter reported that Rice is expected to be sidelined for at least two months after undergoing ‘a clean-up surgery’ on his knee… he will also miss OTAs and minicamp as he serves a short jail sentence stemming from a probation violation.

“Adding Brown would make sense for a team that is hoping to get back in the Super Bowl mix with a healthy Patrick Mahomes in 2026.”

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