Patriots Rumors: Drake Maye Is Planned to Replace Jacoby Brissett in 2024 NFL Season

The New England Patriots are reportedly planning on finishing the 2024 season with Drake Maye starting under center.

Sports Illustrated's Albert Breer revealed on Monday that New England is planning on inserting Maye into the first-string offense "at some point" this season and will be patient before doing so, to an extent.

"But Maye's progress has gotten to the point where the expectation is he'll earn his way onto the field relatively soon, with the one caveat being that the Patriots' offense will have to show (as it did against the Cincinnati Bengals, then didn't against the Jets) that it can play the way it needs to in order to support a rookie quarterback," Breer wrote.

Still, he confirmed that "this won't be a full-on redshirt year" for the rookie.

Maye briefly saw action near the end of the Patriots' 24-3 loss to the New York Jets on Thursday. The former North Carolina standout finished 4-of-8 for 22 yards, adding another 12 yards on the ground.

While it was a brief NFL debut, Maye still showed why New England used the No. 3 overall pick in the 2024 draft on him. He led the Patriots down to New York's 7-yard line before the clock ran out, converting a fourth-down opportunity with an impressive throw to DeMario Douglas.

After the game, head coach Jerod Mayo confirmed that veteran Jacoby Brissett will continue to start moving forward.

"Jacoby is our quarterback until I say he is not the quarterback," Mayo said, per ESPN's Mike Reiss.

New England appears to be wary about putting Maye behind an offensive line that has been inconsistent to open the year. After allowing one sack in a Week 1 win over the Cincinnati Bengals, the Patriots have given up 10 sacks over their past two games.

If Maye continues to improve in practice and make the most of his early regular-season opportunities, he could find himself in the starting lineup sooner rather than later.