Patriots fans should be thrilled with Eliot Wolf despite missing on Brandon Aiyuk

The New England Patriots need to add weapons to their arsenal, especially with a rookie quarterback taking over in the coming years in Drake Maye. As much potential as Maye has, the cupboard is bare in Foxboro -- Maye doesn't have an elite cast of wide receivers to throw the football to, and his offensive line could use some work.

To the Pats credit, they tried. New England executive Eliot Wolf -- who is the de facto general manager -- was willing to meet Aiyuk's asking price. Per NBC Sports Bay Area, Wolf was willing to give Aiyuk the largest contract of any of his potential suitors at over $30 million per season. Still, Aiyuk wanted little to do with a rebuilding project, and Maye remains unproven.

Wolf was also willing to include Kendrick Bourne in the trade -- a former 49er himself who is familiar with Kyle Shanahan's system -- in an attempt to sweeten the pot for San Francisco and John Lynch. Had Aiyuk wanted to play in New England, it sounds like he'd be there by now in large part due to Wolf's efforts.

Patriots fans can take silver lining from Brandon Aiyuk pursuit

As ESPN's Adam Schefter reported on Tuesday night, New England ended their pursuit of Aiyuk for a reason.

However, if there is a silver lining in the Patriots pursuit of Aiyuk, it's that Wolf understands what his team needs most and is willing to pay a premium price. Sure, that player will not be Aiyuk, but he will not be the last No. 1 wide receiver to hit the open market in the years to come, whether that be via trade or free agency. ESPN's Mike Reiss discussed the Patriots courting of Aiyuk in a recent article:

"New England had been attempting to acquire Aiyuk for months, and it had been a slow process from its side, according to sources. New England was willing to make Aiyuk one of the top five highest-paid wide receivers in the NFL in terms of average salary per year, a source said," Reiss wrote.

That sounds like a team willing to take that next step. With Maye in the early stages of his NFL development, New England can afford to swing and miss on a player of Aiyuk's stature. What's most important, however, is that they put the right assets in place for Maye so that when the first-round pick is ready, he can hit the ground running.

No one understands this better than Wolf. The clock on Maye's rookie deal has already started. The Patriots need to speed up their competitive window.