The Patriots made a move ahead of players reporting to Gillette Stadium on Monday, and it appears moving Joe Milton was done in the hopes of avoiding any potential drama in their quarterback room.
According to MassLive’s Mark Daniels, one key reason why Milton was traded to Dallas was the fact that the former Tennessee quarterback not only wanted a starting role, but was frustrated he wouldn’t get that opportunity here to earn it with the Patriots.
In fact, Daniels talked about the situation during an appearance on 98.5 The Sports Hub’s Toucher and Hardy with guest Dan Roche this week, and cited a report by his colleague, Karen Guregian, that Milton apparently felt that if it had been an open competition this summer, he would have beaten Drake Maye out and won the starting role.
“He didn’t feel like he would be getting a legitimate shot to compete,” said Daniels. “For that reason, he wanted out of New England. At age 25, he wanted to be on a team that would allow him the best opportunity to play, and he didn’t see that at all with Drake Maye being 22 and the #3 overall pick. So he made it very clear that he wanted to be somewhere else because he honestly didn’t think the Patriots wanted him competing with Drake Maye. As a competitor, that’s how he approached it. I guess if he thought there was a realistic opportunity that he could compete for the starting job, sure, he would have stayed in New England. He didn’t think that was the case.”
“Joe Milton, as my colleague wrote yesterday, he thought he could beat out Drake Maye, and that’s how he’s approached it, I think, probably his entire career. He thought he could beat out Drake Maye and be the Patriots starting quarterback and he wanted out because he didn’t think they would allow that to happen.”
Milton certainly came a long way from the player we saw in preseason and was absolutely more polished and accurate than he had been when he was getting started. He finished his lone appearance, lighting up what was mostly a backup group by the Bills, completing 22-of-29 (75.9%) for 241 yards along with one passing touchdown and a rushing TD.
Some will argue the level of competition he faced, but give him credit. Milton stepped up and took advantage, which not all backup quarterbacks always do.
Now he’s hoping to get a chance to compete in Dallas, although Daniels says it remains to be seen if he’ll really get that opportunity.
“Now, it might be delusions grandeur and we’ll see if he actually gets to compete against the highest paid quarterback in the NFL in Dak Prescott,” said Daniels.
“Interesting that a sixth-round pick has that type of pull but hey, Man, he wanted to go somewhere else and they acquiesced.”
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Ian Logue is a Seacoast native and owner and senior writer for PatsFans.com, an independent media site covering the New England Patriots and has been running this site in one form or another since 1997.
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Milton is not going to be given as many reps in practice as the #1 or #2 QB in Dallas. Swapping teams wont change that. He’d have to earn it. However, with the yearly volume of injuries in this league at QB, just work and his time will come. That is, if he can handle the job. Secondly, a guy all 32 teams passed on in the draft due to issues that no-one really wanted to report on, should be aware that his ability to leverage the league and demand trades is weak at best. It will be interesting to… Read more »
Potentially not being able to take Hunter or Carter, given the return on the trade, certainly stings. I was fine with them winning before thinking it would have boosted his stock enough for them to at least get a 3rd or even a 4th. But they got little back and might now not end up with either of the two top guys available. Is what it is, but frustrating nonetheless.
Cold Hard Football Facts to be spoken here. In college over 6 years Milton played in 43 games. In those games he threw for or ran in 49 touchdowns. That means that his arm and his legs were good for 1.14 touchdowns a game. Compare that with Maye who played 30 games in college. In those games Maye threw for or ran in 79 touchdowns. That means his arm and legs were good for 2.63 touchdowns a game. Maye directly produced 2.3x the end zone appearances per game over Milton. Now there will be the argument that it is the… Read more »
100% agree. And it’s great to hear from you, man. Hope you’re doing well 🙂