Ty Law: Patriots have their ‘successor to Tom Brady’ in Drake Maye

"He is ‘the guy,’ he's proven himself."

Drake Maye is starting to settle into a groove in his second NFL season. Danielle Parhizkaran/The Boston Globe

September 30, 2025

2 minutes to read

Count Pro Football Hall of Famer Ty Law among those who have been impressed with what they’ve seen from Patriots QB Drake Maye so far this season.

Maye has continued to show signs of developing into a true franchise QB in his second year in the NFL, putting together another efficient stat line on Sunday in a 42-13 win over the Panthers.

Maye completed 14-of-17 passes for 203 yards and two touchdowns against Carolina while also recording a rushing touchdown. More importantly, he wasn’t knocked for a turnover after coughing up the ball twice in Week 3 against Pittsburgh.

Law — a three-time Super Bowl champion in New England — believes Maye is doing far more than taking a step forward in his development. The former Patriots star cornerback believes that Maye is giving New England fans what they’ve been waiting for: a legitimate star option under center.

“He is ‘the guy,’ he’s proven himself,” Law said on “The Greg Hill Show” on Tuesday. “This is his second year, when quarterbacks tend to either make progress or regress. Because when you’re a rookie, you really don’t have that much to lose — we’re trying to see and trying to figure [things out at] a different level.

“But for Drake Maye to make a step forward — which we’ve seen some quarterbacks in the past, they took a step back in their second year. I think this is a good sign for New England. Now you gotta get some pieces around him so he can continue that success. But I think we now finally have our successor to Tom Brady.”

That’s lofty praise from Law, considering that Maye has only appeared in 17 total games in the NFL so far in his career.

But even with that small sample size — and the expected growing pains on the field — the No. 3 pick in the 2024 NFL Draft is putting himself in good company with his production so far this year.

Through four games, Maye leads all NFL quarterbacks in completion percentage (74.0 percent), while ranking fifth in passer rating (109.4) and sixth in passing yards (988).

As noted by the Patriots communications department, Maye has joined Ravens QB Lamar Jackson and Bills QB Josh Allen as the only players in NFL history to record a 135.0+ passer rating, 1 rushing TD, and 1 passing TD (min. 10 pass att.) in multiple games in a season.

Entering Sunday’s showdown between the Patriots and Bills, Law believes that Maye can further validate himself as a rising star in the league if he holds his own against Allen.

“I mean, overall, yes — I think he is the best quarterback in NFL,” Law said of Allen. “But, you gotta step up as a defense. I mean, he’s playing all around good football. We know what type of talent he is, but I also think that Drake Maye — you know, some may disagree, but I think he’s playing [like a] top 10 quarterback right now because of what he’s working with. You know what I mean?

“And he’s young. So I believe in the quarterback that we have, and the team must believe that we have a quarterback. Yeah, he may not be Josh Allen, but we have us a quarterback, too. And if we step up and play as a team, we can take down anybody, especially the Buffalo Bills. You gotta go in there and basically say, ‘I ain’t respecting your ass today, it’s time to play.’”