The Unlikely Arm Cannon: Patriots Paradox, “If you look too far into the future, you’re not gonna get where you want to go,” Joe Milton III mused after his Week 18 NFL debut last season; A line that now feels like a prophetic wink to the chaos unfolding in Foxborough. Picture this: A 6’5”, 246-pound QB with a rocket launcher for an arm, stuck at QB3 on a depth chart behind Drake Maye, the golden-armed rookie, and Joshua Dobbs. But here’s the twist.

Head coach Mike Vrabel, the man who once declared “Leaders are going to identify themselves…the ones that define the culture,” isn’t ready to hand over the keys just yet. After Milton’s Week 18 cameo—22-of-29 for 241 yards, 1 TD, and a celebratory backflip that broke TikTok, a couple of other teams have taken interest in him and are looking for a possible trade. One team that has shown interest is the Dallas Cowboys. The QB has also been linked to the Jets and Saints.

Per ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler on Wednesday: “The Patriots are exploring a trade. I’m told several teams are interested. One team to potentially watch for is the Dallas Cowboys because they are looking for a good backup, a young backup with upside they may not get in the draft, maybe they get in a trade.”

But according to Sports Illustrated’s Albert Breer, the market’s colder than a Boston winter. Breer quipped, “I don’t think anybody saw enough of Joe Milton last year. And he looked impressive in the last game to say, ‘Yeah, like, we would bring him in to be our starting quarterback’.

“And it’s interesting. I think this plays into a little bit of the dynamic that you have in the draft—where a ton of quarterbacks get drafted in the first round, and then in the second and third rounds, you look over the years historically, there just aren’t numbers. Like, guys just don’t get drafted in that area. Why is that? Because if you look at a guy and say that guy can be our long-term starter, you’re probably not going to wait until the second round to take him. You are probably going to take him in the first round.

“Like Bo Nix was a second-round talent for a lot of teams. The Broncos said ‘he can be our long-term starter, we’re not chancing it, we’re taking him in the first round’. So if you see that guy out there, you are not going to risk waiting for him. Nine times out of 10, you are going to take him in the first round. And then if you don’t see a guy that way, if you think a guy is just maybe a placeholder type of quarterback or a bridge quarterback, you probably aren’t going to spend a second or a third-round pick on them…

“Generally, teams don’t spend second and third-round picks on quarterbacks that they don’t think can be the long-term answer and I don’t know that Joe Milton has shown enough that he can be a long-term answer.”

Top Comment by roguemustang

Maye had a decent 1st yr, so did Mac, Milton got a start finally, a third string QB against backups,...more

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Yet, Vrabel’s playing the long game. “I think it’s a little early to have that conversation…we’d have to entertain [trades] within reason,” he hedged, sounding like a guy guarding his poker chips. Translation: Milton’s not on the block…yet.

Mike Vrabel’s gambit: Culture over commerce

Here’s where it gets poetic. Vrabel, a Patriots legend turned head coach, knows a thing or two about underdog narratives. Remember his playing days? The linebacker who moonlighted as a tight end in goal-line packages, snagging TD passes?

Now, he’s channeling that same grit into Milton’s development. “I’ve talked to Joe. I’ve reached out. We’ve had conversations. I think that’s too soon to tell. He took advantage of his opportunity at the end of the season, which is all we can ask,” Vrabel stated in Feb.

But let’s keep it real: The Patriots are rebuilding. Maye’s the future, Joshua Dobbs is the clipboard guru, and Milton’s the tantalizing ‘what if.’ Yet, Vrabel’s refusal to cut bait feels like a nod to New England’s DNA—where role players morph into legends (see: Julian Edelman, sixth-round pick turned Super Bowl MVP). “Our effort…is going to be the contract we make with our teammates,” Vrabel preached earlier this year. For Milton, that contract means grinding in the shadows, arm cannon ready, waiting for his Snow Bowl moment.

So, what’s next for Milton? It’s the QB vaulting from practice squad obscurity to cult hero. His contract? A bargain at $4.2 million over four years. But in the NFL, the potential is currency, and Vrabel’s holding the purse strings tight. However, for now, he’s the QB3 who tossed a 72.4 QBR in his debut and entertained the fans.

We will have to wait and watch what happens next. But do not forget how every team has the chance to pick Milton before the Pats did (No. 193 overall pick) last year. So it might be tough for teams to send a third-round pick to New England in exchange for a player who they skipped multiple times. But for the Pats, what’s better than flipping a sixth-round pick into a third-round pick?

Or do you think the QB will stay with the Patriots? Let us know in the comments below.