Eliot Wolf: Patriots drafted Joe Milton because he had 'too much talent' to ignore

The New England Patriots used the third pick of the NFL Draft to select franchise quarterback Drake Maye. Then in a curious move, the team opted for Joe Milton five rounds later.

So out of the 11 quarterbacks taken in the draft, two of them ended up with the Patriots. Eliot Wolf, the de facto GM for New England, said the pick made sense in the Patriots War Room.

“It was just one of those picks where there was too much talent in him to pass that up,” Wolf told ESPN’s Adam Schefter.

Maye, the former North Carolina star, was one of the most-touted quarterbacks in the lead up to the draft. He ended up as the No. 3 player selected behind Caleb Williams and Jayden Daniels. So obviously, New England views him as its guy under center.

Milton is fourth quarterback on Patriots roster

Milton is the former Tennessee star who always was projected as a third-day pick. He became the fourth quarterback on the Patriots roster. The team signed veteran Jacoby Brissett and kept Bailey Zappe from last year’s team. Earlier, New England traded former first-rounder Mac Jones, who started the past three seasons, to the Jaguars.

Wolf said he watched Milton in person when the Vols faced Vanderbilt. He came away with plenty of reasons to want to draft him.

“I got there really early and watched him warm up,” Wolf told Schefter. “Just watching him throw the football is unbelievable.

“He’s 6-5, 245 pounds. He’s got a rocket for an arm. He’s athletic. He played in (Tennessee head coach Josh) Heupel’s offense there. It’s not an NFL offense, but we feel like there’s some things that we can work with and develop.”

So the Patriots will need to ready Maye to start. And if they can, they’ll craft Milton into NFL shape. In the meantime, they can rely on Brissett. He’s 31 and has played for five NFL teams. This is his second time on the Patriots roster. New England selected the former NC State star in the third round of the 2016 NFL Draft.

“We’ve spent time with Drake and Joe,” Wolf told Schefter. “But we haven’t had a work day with them yet. They’ll get in here next week. We’ll gauge where they’re at. We’ll gauge where the coaching staff thinks there at.”

Wolf then mentioned the older QB.

“We know where Jacoby’s at,” he said. “He’s been here working his tail off since the offseason program started. So we’ll see how it goes.”