New England Patriots' Eliot Wolf weighs in on Drake Maye, Matthew Judon trade, Brandon Aiyuk pursuit
FOXBORO – New England Patriots vice president of player personnel Eliot Wolf met with reporters before practice on Sunday. Wolf weighed in on rookie Drake Maye's progress, ending the pursuit of Brandon Aiyuk, and the trade of Matthew Judon.
Matthew Judon trade "best for both parties"
Wolf called the decision to trade Judon for a third-round pick "difficult."
"We have to weigh now, the future, what's best for the team, what's best for the player, and it was something that we just felt organizationally, and for Matthew, it was probably the best for both parties," Wolf said. "Teams had been calling to check in. He had voiced a little bit of displeasure with his contract at different times. So, whenever that happens, teams always check in on players. So, it's just kind of something that came to fruition there at the end."
Wolf declined to get into specifics on contract talks with Judon when asked if there was any middle ground that could have been reached.
Patriots end pursuit of Brandon Aiyuk
Wolf confirmed that the team has "fully ended" its pursuit of San Francisco 49ers wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk earlier this month. New England reportedly reached an agreement on trade terms with the 49ers and offered a significant contract extension in hopes of landing a new offensive weapon.
But Aiyuk, who has still not been traded or reached an extension with his current team, reportedly said he did not want to play for the Patriots.
Wolf was asked what went into the decision to end the team's pursuit of the wide receiver.
"Yeah, just kind of a feel. It was sort of a situation where he's still in San Francisco, and that hasn't been worked out from their standpoint yet," Wolf said. "But we just felt, organizationally, our young receivers have had a really good week, and they're continuing to progress, so we're excited about those guys."
When will Drake Maye start?
According to Wolf, the team is confident it can support any quarterback, including a rookie like Maye, with the roster it has in place.
Wolf was asked what he's seem from Maye from the start of training camp until now.
"Yeah, it was good to see him get in the other night. It was really good to see how calm and collected he was. He got headbutted at one point by Nolan Smith and made a nice play on that one, but he's steadily improved," Wolf said. "He's put his head down and worked. He's a great teammate, and we're excited to see where his development can go."
So how close is Maye to playing?
"We'll have to see. Again, he didn't get a lot of snaps … in the first game. He did pretty well in his snaps the other night. It's all about building on those successes and seeing where it goes," Wolf said. "Drake's very conscientious. He takes all the coaching points. He's trying to do everything perfect. It was really nice to see him the other night go out there and just play ball rather than think about those things."
