Drake Maye Has His Sights Set on More Than Just the MVP This Season

Drake Maye is having a stellar year leading the 11–3 Patriots to a playoff berth. New England is one of the favorites to win this year’s Super Bowl, which would be their first since Tom Brady’s sixth there in 2018.
On top of the Patriots’ success as a whole, Maye has continously been a favorite to win the MVP this season. He currently has the second-best odds behind Matthew Stafford. At age 23, Maye would be the youngest player to win the award since Lamar Jackson and Patrick Mahomes both did so at the same age.
However, Maye admitted on Wednesday that his focus is not on winning the MVP. While it would be an awesome achievement for him, he would rather win the Super Bowl with his teammates than just take home an individual award. That’s the sign of a good leader.
“The MVP is obviously one of the big accolades for this league. It’s an honor as a player to earn the award and I respect all the past MVPs, but I think at the end of the day winning a Super Bowl is the biggest thing,” Maye said. “... That’s what you work towards and that’s what this game’s about. I love winning, and the personal accolades come with all that, but I’d rather win [the Super Bowl] than win personal awards. People in that locker room, I know a lot of ‘em feel the same way.”
#Patriots QB Drake Maye when asked if he cares about winning MVP:
— Carlos A. Lopez (@LosTalksPats) December 17, 2025
“The MVP is obviously one of the big accolades for this league… It’s an honor as a player to earn the award and I respect all the past MVPs, but I think at the end of the day winning a Super Bowl is the biggest… pic.twitter.com/mZh43OoOJa
This mindset has seemingly been prevalent for Maye all season as he always brushes off any MVP chants shouted at him during games (which has happened quite a few times this year).
The NFL MVP will be announced the Thursday before the Super Bowl, so we’ll see if Maye can capture this award and then play in the Big Game a few days later, like he intends to do.
More NFL on Sports Illustrated
feed