Patriots draft Joe Milton III, who joins QB room with Drake Maye - ESPN

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — The New England Patriots selected University of Tennessee quarterback Joe Milton III in the sixth round of the NFL draft Saturday, double dipping at the position after picking North Carolina's Drake Maye third overall.

Milton acknowledged he was somewhat surprised to hear from the Patriots at pick No. 193, but said it was nonetheless special to receive word from the team given the adversity he said he's faced over his career.

«I had all the [NFL] hats laid out. You just never know where you're going to end up. I was just waiting on any phone call,» he told reporters on a videoconference. «It's a blessing, for sure.»

The 6-foot-5, 246-pound Milton said all of his conversations with the Patriots have been about playing quarterback. Some draft analysts wondered if teams might consider him as a tight end, but Milton said bluntly: «That will never happen.»

The Patriots now have five quarterbacks on their roster, led by veteran Jacoby Brissett, who had signed a one-year contract worth $8 million in March. Maye is the hopeful quarterback of the future, with Milton, 2022 fourth-round pick Bailey Zappe and second-year player Nathan Rourke also on the depth chart.

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The pick used to select Milton had been acquired from the Jacksonville Jaguars in March in exchange for former starter and first-round pick Mac Jones.

Milton, 24, relayed that he had developed a connection with Maye well before the draft, as they had first met at a Peyton Manning-run camp before the season.

This marks just the second time in team history