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Drake Maye won’t receive an MVP endorsement from Tom Brady.
The MVP race has whittled down to a two-player competition between Maye and Los Angeles Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford. Brady backed the 37-year-old veteran over the New England Patriots’ 23-year-old star.
Asked about his MVP thoughts on Thursday’s “The Herd,” Brady cautiously started by giving Maye his flowers.
“Look, I love Drake Maye and what he’s done in his second year working with Josh McDaniels, who’s another tremendous coach and has done such a great job of understanding what Drake’s capable of,” Brady said. “And Drake’s taken advantage of every opportunity he’s got.”
Brady didn’t want his analysis twisted into criticism of Maye, who completed 72.0 percent of his passes for 4,394 yards and 31 touchdowns.
“I always think in these awards, when you say one thing that’s positive about someone, it means you’re saying something negative about the other,” Brady said. “It’s not like that at all. They both had incredible years.”
However, the seven-time Super Bowl champion then explained why he’s leaning toward Stafford.
“I just see Matt Stafford as a Hall of Fame-level quarterback that has played his best season of football,” Brady declared. “And he’s done it against, in any conditions, 46 touchdown passes. He’s just been incredible. I just love the way he leads this team.
“There’s no bad choice at this point. You’re talking about some of the best players in the league. But Matt has, in my opinion, really exceeded everyone’s expectations this season. What an incredible quarterback, and what a career he’s had.”
Brady isn’t alone, as the betting markets favor Stafford to win his first career MVP award over Maye.
