The New England Patriots hit the jackpot with Drake Maye in the 2024 NFL Draft. The rookie earned a trip to the Pro Bowl in his first season, even with a less-than-ideal team around him. Maye was thrown to the wolves behind one of the league's worst offensive lines and he still looked good. Even great at times. It was a truly impressive debut for the North Carolina product.
Now, the task for Eliot Wolf and the Patriots' front office is simple: put real pieces around Maye and start winning football games.
Mike Vrabel is a good coach who should go a long way toward getting New England back on the right track. We can quibble with the decision to pair an ascendant 22-year-old quarterback with a defensive head coach who likes to win in the trenches, but if the Patriots' defense takes a step forward and the Pats' O-line starts to actually pass protect, Maye will flourish.
What the Patriots need first is a better wide receiver room. With all due respect to DeMario Douglas and Kendrick Bourne, New England's pass-catching corps left a lot to be desired last season. Maye has an incredible arm and the mobility to scramble under pressure, but New England won't take the next step until Maye has a proper WR1 who can stretch the defense and open up big-play opportunities.
Rather than targeting, say, Travis Hunter or Tetairoa McMillan with the fourth pick in the upcoming draft, however, there's a chance New England takes a more unconventional path. Karen Guregian, Mark Daniels, and Chris Mason of MassLive report Penn State tight end Tyler Warren as a name to "keep an eye on" if New England trades down.
Patriots looking for Drake Maye's Rob Gronkowski with Tyler Warren interest
New England obviously has a fruitful history of great quarterback-tight end combinations. Tom Brady and Rob Gronkowski will go down as one of the best offensive duos of all time, if not the best. There was also Aaron Hernandez, once upon a time. This is a Patriots team that loves its tight end sets, and Vrabel was there for a lot of it as a former player.
Warren is easily the best tight end on the board in 2025. The Penn State product enjoyed a breakout senior campaign for the Nittany Lions, reeling in 104 catches for 1,233 yards and eight touchdowns. He added another 218 yards and four touchdowns as a runner.
Few tight ends are more versatile within the offense. Warren can line up anywhere, even in the backfield, and he's a tremendous route-runner. If Maye wants a big-play target, Warren's 6-foot-6, 249-pound frame might just do the trick. He's physical on contested catches and almost automatic in the red zone. FanSided's Colton Edwards wrote glowingly of Warren in his scouting report.
"He displays very good hand-eye coordination, body control, ball tracking, and strong hands for adjusting mid-route, catching contested passes, high-pointing the football, and tracking over-the-shoulder throws. His impressive catch radius also enhances this strength."
It's generally unwise to select tight ends in the top five, but if New England trades back into the middle portion of the first round, Warren becomes a great value play. He'd fill an essential position in the New England offense and give Maye a new favorite target for the next decade. If New England can stack a few extra picks from the trade and land their favorite pass-catcher on the board in Warren, that's a huge win.
Warren probably won't ascend to the heights of Gronk — and, hate to break it to ya, Drake Maye isn't Tom Brady — but the Patriots should experience plenty of long-term success with Maye and Warren connecting on offense.