The Patriots’ summer break is nearly over.

Veteran players report for training camp on Tuesday and practice begins Wednesday morning at 11 a.m.

Before that first practice kicks off, let’s answer your questions in a Patriots mailbag.

@BobbyRotondo
Doug any chance of a big trade for a#1 WRs.

There’s a chance based on the Patriots’ reported interest in 49ers wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk during the draft. The Patriots offered the 49ers a second-round pick for Aiyuk, per ProFootballTalk.

Aiyuk, 26, has since requested a trade from the 49ers.

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The 2020 first-round pick is currently set to play on his fifth-year option of $14.124 million, but clearly he wants a new contract. PFT set the terms of his new deal in the $28 million-per-year range.

If the 49ers weren’t interested in the Patriots’ No. 34 overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft, then they’d likely only accept a future first-round pick in any deal. Aiyuk is coming off back-to-back 1,000-yard seasons and was one of the league’s best wideouts last season with 75 catches for 1,342 yards with seven touchdowns. He would immediately become the Patriots’ top wide receiver and give rookie QB Drake Maye a much better supporting cast.

The Patriots’ current top wide receivers are Kendrick Bourne, recovering from a torn ACL; slot DeMario Douglas; rookies Ja’Lynn Polk and Javon Baker ;and free-agent pickup K.J. Osborn. Players like JuJu Smith-Schuster, Kayshon Boutte, Jalen Reagor and Tyquan Thornton are competing for roster spots.

The prospect of giving up a future first-round pick is risky, however. The Patriots are expected to be one of the worst teams in the NFL, and after the 2024 NFL schedule was announced were not favored in a single game. Giving up what could be the No. 1 overall pick in the 2025 NFL Draft is rich for a veteran wide receiver who requires a new contract.

But Aiyuk is just what the Patriots and Maye need.

@lobster_dog
Some Vegas lines have the Pats as the worst team in the league with an average line of 4 wins.

So over/under 4.5 wins and against whom

I will go slightly over with five wins against the Jaguars, Jets, Titans, Colts and Chargers.

On paper, the Patriots’ roster is better this season. The offense has been improved, and the defense is healthy. It all comes down to coaching whether the Patriots can match or improve upon last season’s 4-13 record.

@TPJ_Sports
Any chance you see Drake Maye becoming a starter week 1 and how would that look like based off of training camp, would it just be all performance based wise or do you just see Jacoby winning the starting job no matter what ?

I do see a chance of Drake Maye becoming the starter in Week 1. He’ll just have to outplay Jacoby Brissett. And he certainly has the raw talent to do so. He just has to prove that he’s mentally capable of starting in the NFL.

Maye is more physically talented than Brissett. And he did well enough during the spring to pass Bailey Zappe on the depth chart. There’s a lot of time left before Week 1, and there’s precedent in New England for a rookie QB to start over a veteran in Week 1. It happened in 2021 with Mac Jones over Cam Newton.

Obviously, that wasn’t an identical situation. But Alex Van Pelt’s offense should be easier for Maye to learn than Josh McDaniels’ system was for Jones to pick up. Maye is a better player than Jones. And there would be less awkwardness for Brissett to be a backup than there would have been for Newton to back up Jones. That’s why Newton was cut.

Brissett knows his role on the Patriots. He’ll compete for the starting job and be a bridge if necessary. But the Patriots drafted a quarterback in the first round to eventually start.

@Cmerc5
What’s your prediction on who is on the OL and how does it affect when Drake Maye gets considered for playing time. If it’s a repeat of last year, playing him seems risky

My prediction would be Chukwuma Okorafor at left tackle, Sidy Sow at left guard, David Andrews at center, Nick Leverett at right guard and Mike Onwenu at right tackle in Week 1, but I’m not very confident in that guess.

Onwenu was playing guard at the end of the spring. And if the Patriots believe that rookie Caedan Wallace can start right away at right tackle, then that could push Onwenu inside. There’s also the possibility that a player like rookie Layden Robinson could be a Week 1 starter if he impresses enough this summer.

Whomever is holding down that starting guard spot opposite Sow should just be keeping it warm for Cole Strange when the 2022 first-round pick returns.

And all of this is assuming that Okorafor, who has only played right tackle in the NFL, can handle the switch to left tackle. If he can’t, then everything gets thrown out the window, and the Patriots might need to sign a left tackle off the street. David Bakhtiar, Charles Leno Jr. and Donovan Smith are still available.