Tom Brady's take on Drake Maye wasn't exactly a vote of confidence

The New England Patriots have officially turned over a new leaf. It's out with the old, in with the new. Bill Belichick is gone. Tom Brady is about to join the broadcast booth next season, his NFL career officially in the rearview mirror. It's a weird time for the New England faithful. There's really no telling what next season will look like. The whole NFL landscape feels foreign.

What we do know, more or less, is who the Patriots are invested in moving forward.

Jerod Mayo is the youngest head coach in the NFL. He was hand-picked as Belichick's successor, with the Patriots forgoing a traditional coaching search to embrace a former champion and one of Belichick's most accomplished disciples. In addition to Mayo, the Patriots have their new franchise cornerstone — No. 3 pick Drake Maye, a talented 21-year-old quarterback from North Carolina.

Maye will need time (and patience) at the NFL level, but he's a major talent. He is, in many ways, the ideal QB prospect on paper, listed 6-foot-5 and 220 pounds with a cannon arm and mobility outside the pocket.

Having suffered through the Mac Jones era, New England fans are desperate for a sustainable, enjoyable QB to lead the franchise into the future. It's impossible to fill Tom Brady's shoes, but somebody has to try.

Brady has met with Maye in person and offered words of wisdom. When asked about the Patriots' rookie by Yahoo! Sports, the Hall of Fame QB was candid in his appraisal of the situation.

"I’m very fortunate to be around him, and I like him a lot. I’ve heard great things about him. But his opportunity is going to be really what he makes of it, and how he wants to develop it, and how he wants to attack his profession, like we all do. It’s not where you’re at when you’re 22, it’s who you’re around when you’re 22. Who inspires you to be better? Who develops you?”

Tom Brady offers measured praise of Patriots rookie Drake Maye

To be clear, Brady is not criticizing Maye. Anything but. He praises the rookie's personality and offers an honest assessment of what the future holds for the talented gunslinger. Brady knows what it takes to succeed at the NFL level and he's not sugarcoating the uncertainty of it all. Not every top pick — not every great kid, or every accomplished prospect — pans out.

Quite literally, the future is what Maye makes of it. He will need to carve out his own path to success in the NFL. Nobody else will do it for him.

He's joining a storied franchise that threatens to bury him under the weight of history. Maye will need to avoid letting the magnitude of the circumstances get to him. He also needs to overcome challenges on the field. The Patriots are a young, ill-fitted group under a new head coach. That is a tough environment for a developing QB. New England has a bottom-ranked WR room, a lackluster O-line, and new play-callers across the board. If Maye can overcome all those roadblocks, well, it's a great sign for New England's future. He might just be the guy.

Brady is gearing up for his new career as a color commentator. He has said he's going to tell it like it is. That means even his heir apparent in Foxboro doesn't get special treatment. Brady can support Maye without offering blind encouragement or ignoring the challenges faced by every rookie quarterback.