The New England Patriots exceeded expectations in 2025. After finishing the last two seasons with 4-13 records, the Patriots were one of the top teams in the entire NFL in 2025 with a 14-3 record. That was good enough for New England to win the AFC East for the first time since 2019, which was a goal set at the beginning of the season by head coach Mike Vrabel when he was first hired.
What the Patriots also did in 2025 was watch their franchise quarterback, Drake Maye, become an MVP-caliber quarterback in just his second season, which was statistically one of the best in the NFL. He finished the season with 4,394 passing yards to go along with 31 touchdowns and only eight interceptions. Maye also had 450 rushing yards and scored four touchdowns on the ground this season. Those efforts led the Patriots back to the playoffs in his first season as the full-time starter.
The advanced stats only make Maye's performance more impressive. The signal caller led the NFL in completion percentage (72.0), yards per attempt (8.9), adjusted air yards (9.46), passer rating (113.5), quarterback rating (77.2), net yards (7.78), and adjusted net yards (8.26). In 17 games this season, Maye finished with a passer rating of over 100.0 in 13 games, which includes eight games of a passer rating over 120.0. He led all quarterbacks in this category in 2025.
All of this led to Maye receiving the first All-Pro selection of his career, earning second-team honors on Saturday. He received 18 first-place votes, while Los Angeles Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford received 31 first-place votes, taking first-team honors. It’s been Maye and Stafford as the favorites to win the MVP award this season, as both quarterbacks have had standout seasons.
All of this sets up New England's front office having no choice but to commit even more money to Maye down the road.
Patriots QB Drake Maye Unlocked Big Increase For Future Contract
Maye also received Pro Bowl honors for the second time in as many years, but this is the first as the full-time starter. With him making the Pro Bowl, it unlocks a massive escalator for Maye’s fifth-year option on his contract due to being a first-round draft pick who made the Pro Bowl within the first three years of his career.
The salary increase will be equivalent to what the franchise tag is for the quarterback position in 2028 (his fifth year). Maye is currently in the second year of a four-year contract worth $36.63 million, and it’s fully guaranteed. The Patriots are certainly going to pick up the fifth-year option for Maye in the process of retaining him and re-signing him to a long-term extension in the future.
For context, if a quarterback were on the franchise tag in 2025, he’d make $40,242,000. However, with the salary cap always on the rise and the quarterback position being considered one of high value, the franchise tag in 2026 increases to $47,374,000 for one year. It seems safe to say that number will be north of $55 million by the time Maye is in line for his fifth-year option.
Teams are moving away from tagging quarterbacks due to the expense of those contracts for just one year. The last quarterback to receive the franchise tag was Lamar Jackson in 2023, who cost the Baltimore Ravens $32,416,000 over that one season.
Luckily for the Patriots, they still have a few more years before they have to start to worry about that for Maye. In the meantime, it would be wise for New England to continue building a strong and competitive team around its MVP-caliber quarterback while he’s still on his first contract.
Hopefully, there are many more All-Pro and MVP-caliber seasons ahead for Maye, but his future contract will cost the Patriots much more money, which they should be happy to pay him when the time comes.
It’s worth mentioning that cornerback Marcus Jones was also named as an All-Pro, on the second team, as a punt returner. Jones received a contract extension earlier in the season after enjoying a breakout year and proving to Vrabel that he can play in his system. Jones signed a three-year, $36 million extension in October, keeping him in New England through 2028.