Drake Maye surprised the NFL and analysts in 2024, and his rookie season could pay dividends for the Patriots.

New England got the No. 3 pick of last year’s draft right, but the rest of its roster decisions didn’t pay off. The Patriots hired Mike Vrabel as head coach to steer the ship in the right direction, and Maye’s influence could help the team’s rebuild.

“Drake Maye in the NFL has a little bit of like a mythical reputation,” NFL Media’s Ian Rapoport told Phil Perry on the “Next Pats Podcast,” per NBC Sports Boston’s Nick Goss “He was the guy everybody wanted in the draft. It was Caleb Williams, Jayden Daniels and everybody wanted Drake Maye. Everyone tried to trade up for him, and the Patriots, you know, I thought, and was kind of being told, that they were considering trade options. And then you look back on it, and I don’t get the sense they considered basically anything. I mean, they considered it, but like, not actually. I don’t think they were about to do anything.

“… I think there were a lot of reasons why this Patriots (head coach) job — which I think was always probably going to go to (Mike) Vrabel — a lot of reasons this job was desirable. Drake Maye is at the top of the list.”

The Patriots will command the most cap space of any NFL team this upcoming offseason. One big problem they’ll face is attracting prospective free agents. The allure of playing with Maye will help, and Rapoport provided more optimism that New England will have a better offseason compared to last year.

“It’s tough, because I know they tried last year, took a lot of big swings in free agency — Calvin Ridley and just a lot of them,” Rapoport said. “And I don’t know that they got particularly close. I think (Brandon) Aiyuk they were in on if I remember correctly. Nobody knew (what Maye would be), and nobody wants to go to a bad team without a quarterback.

“Well, now they’ve got a quarterback. Are they a great team? No, they’re probably still a year away. Although, as we’ve learned from the (Washington) Commanders, if you’ve got a guy and you surround him with a really good group of middle-class free agents, you can make your roster better quickly. I think it’ll be a better spot in free agency. …”

Maye reportedly got his wish of offensive coordinator choice, and the Patriots would be best suited to do whatever they can to help out the 22-year-old in his sophomore season.