Bill Belichick says Drake Mayes’ performance in preseason games doesn’t matter much

Count Belichick as the latest in a long line of NFL coaches and former players to offer their opinions on the ongoing quarterback competition between Drake Maye and Jacoby Brissett in New England.

While commentators like Devin McCourty and Dan Orlovsky tended to focus on Maye’s talent (or lack thereof) as the main reason why New England shouldn’t let its rookie start in Week 1, Belichick stressed that preseason performance shouldn’t really play that big a role in the Patriots’ decision on who starts on Sept. 8 against the Bengals.

“First of all, I don’t think you really know how anyone is going to play in the preseason, especially at the quarterback position,” Belichick said. “Looking at it from the other side of the ball, the strategies are generally so simple. Most of the time, it’s very simple strategies. You try to evaluate your players. You try to get them to play the good fundamentals that they know how to do. You don’t hide anything. You just want the defensive players to be ready to react quickly and make plays. …

“I think if you come out of the preseason and say, ‘This guy is playing really well, that guy is playing really well,’ I wouldn’t put a lot of emphasis on that. I would put more emphasis on what they do in practice and then let’s see what happens in the first three or four games of the regular season when opponents target certain players based on what they think they can and can’t do to them and then let’s see how they play.”

Patriots coach Jerod Mayo noted Monday that Maye has “outperformed” Brissett in the Patriots’ three preseason games. But even if the stats are in Maye’s favor, New England may rely more on Brissett’s experience — and the need to keep Maye away from a porous offensive line — as major factors in going with the veteran QB in Week 1.

“This is Taxachusetts”

The Patriots have struggled to lure top free agents to Foxborough in recent years as New England failed to land offseason targets like DeAndre Hopkins and Calvin Ridley.

Granted, it’s much harder to convince players in New England without signing personnel like Tom Brady or Belichick at Gillette Stadium. But Belichick also said Monday that Massachusetts’ state income tax is also a barrier to New England’s inability to outbid other NFL teams — especially in states without an income tax like Florida.

“This is Taxachusetts,” Belichick said. “Virtually every player, even the practice squad, even the minimum-qualified players, are pretty close to $1 million. Once you hit the $1 million mark, you start paying more taxes in Massachusetts.”

“It’s just another thing you have to deal with when negotiating up there. It’s not like Tennessee or Florida or Nevada. Some of those teams don’t collect state income tax. That hits you pretty hard with the agents.”

While Massachusetts tax rates might make it harder to sell the Patriots compared to other NFL franchises, the lackluster performance on the field over the past few years is also making itself felt in Foxborough as it heads into several quiet offseasons – especially with Brandon Aiyuk reportedly turning down a huge contract offer from the Patriots.

On the Matthew Judon trade

It was no big surprise that Matthew Judon was ultimately traded from the Patriots to Atlanta following a lengthy contract deadlock.

But after the Falcons gave up a third-round pick to sign the star pass rusher, they surprised many by not terminating Judon’s current contract and replacing it with a new deal.

“They (Falcons) don’t know anything about me as a football player or as a person,” Judon told ESPN’s Marc Raimondi about the final year of his current contract in 2024. “They know my resume so far. I can’t ask for anything or ask for something I haven’t worked for. I’m going to work for it.”

Atlanta’s interesting approach to Judon also confused Belichick, who signed Judon to a four-year deal in New England in the 2021 offseason.

“I’m pretty surprised Atlanta didn’t extend Judon’s contract,” Belichick said. “I think he’s pretty undervalued for his contract given how it was designed there.”

“It was a pretty complicated situation. But generally in situations like that, I’ve tried not to extend the player’s contract – which of course you can do and sometimes you do – but I think Judon is 31, 32 or something. Extending that is a little different, so you put an incentive and give him a chance – maybe he has a good year and earns some money through incentives. There are a lot of different ways to handle that.”

Belichick, 72, was a finalist for the Falcons’ head coaching job last season before the team eventually hired Raheem Morris.

You can reach Conor Ryan at [email protected].