NFL Insider Believes Patriots ‘Comfortable’ With These Draft Prospects

There will be a lot of chatter in the lead-up to the 2024 NFL Draft about the New England Patriots potentially trading out of the third overall pick, and an insider offered his analysis of the decision based on their sources.

NFL Media's Peter Schrager is one of the most plugged-in reporters, so when he releases a mock draft, it's worth paying attention to. The NFL insider released his first mock draft Tuesday and prefaced the picks and trades based on what he's hearing from his sources.

After Schrager had the Washington Commanders select Jayden Daniels, he had the Patriots stay at No. 3 to draft Drake Maye.

"Despite lots of smoke that New England could trade down, I believe this new Patriots regime will be comfortable with either Jayden Daniels or Maye," Schrager wrote. "Pats brass took Maye out for steaks the night before his Foxborough visit earlier this month, and those guys loved the Charlotte native. That said, they also loved their top-30 visit with Daniels. I think they're fine with whichever one falls to them. New England also wined and dined QB J.J. McCarthy on Monday night, but I still see this selection being Daniels or Maye."

New England also reportedly will host Michael Penix Jr. for a pre-draft visit, so it's doing its homework on all the top signal-callers.

Schrager wrote for the Commanders that as of his first mock draft, he believed the pick was Daniels. There isn't a consensus direction of what Washington will do with the second overall pick, but Daniels grew to be a popular pick as the draft process continued.

New England's choice at No. 3 obviously would be dictated by what Washington does at No. 2, but Maye has become a popular choice for the Patriots. Schrager's first mock draft only strengthens that sentiment.