Welcome to the Friday Five!

Each week during the NFL regular season, I will drop five Patriots-related thoughts on Friday to recap the week that was in Foxboro and look ahead to kickoff.

Ready, set, football.

1. Belichick’s buyout

Officially, Bill Belichick inked a 5-year contract to become the new head coach at the University of North Carolina this week.

Unofficially, it’s a 3-year, $30 million deal because the final two seasons are not guaranteed. That speaks directly to Belichick’s age, 72, which will likely keep him from coaching past the expiration of his contract. But what if he wants to jump to the NFL?

Belichick shot that idea down Thursday in his opening press conference, saying he didn’t commit to UNC only to leave. But the school appears to have protected itself anyway.

Belichick must pay a $10 million buyout if he terminates his contract without cause before June 1, 2025, which drops to $1 million after June 1; a significant decrease that will come well after the NFL’s next coaching carousel starts up again this January. The NFL is expected to have at least a half-dozen head-coaching vacancies, but Belichick’s move to North Carolina and the language in his contract both indicate he won’t be jumping back to the league any time soon, if ever.

In the meantime, UNC has also guaranteed Belichick a car, membership at Chapel Hill Country Club and $100,000 in annual expenses, plus up to $3.5 million in annual bonuses.

2. Maye’s two traits

New England Patriots quarterback Drake Maye gestures on the line of scrimmage during the first half of last Sunday’s NFL game against the Miami Dolphins in Miami Gardens, Fla. (AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee)

In his playing days, Patriots offensive coordinator Alex Van Pelt backed up Jim Kelly and Joe Montana. He faced off against Dan Marino and later coached Aaron Rodgers. Over his career, Van Pelt has come to identify two traits that separate good quarterbacks from great ones: elite processing, and a deep competitive streak.

“The great quarterbacks are the fastest processors,” Van Pelt said Thursday, before adding: “And they wanna kick your butt in darts or rock, paper, scissors, it doesn’t matter.”

In Drake Maye, Van Pelt sees both traits.

“Oh yeah, absolutely,” he said. “I see the processing piece, for sure. I think as he gets more comfortable as a leader, you’ll see that (leadership) take over, as well. He’s ultra-competitive, and just the chirping that goes back and forth between the quarterbacks in the QB drills is awesome. A lot of those qualities are there with Drake.”

The Pats’ first-year offensive coordinator said he felt Maye’s competitive nature during a campus visit last spring to North Carolina, where he incorrectly answered a question the team had for him during a sitdown interview. Later, when Maye visited Foxboro on a pre-draft visit, he repeatedly mentioned the incorrect answer.

3. Bye-week lessons

New England Patriots offensive coordinator Alex Van Pelt, right, stands with head coach Jerod Mayo during the second half of an NFL game against the Los Angeles Rams last Sunday in Foxboro. (AP Photo/Michael Dwyer)

Like every NFL team, the Patriots spent time self-scouting during their bye. In recent years, the bye-week self-scout has become less meaningful, as troves of data allow teams to study themselves every week during the season.

Still, the Patriots picked up a few things with their extra time last week.

Van Pelt said the bye week allows him to “learn a ton,” specifically which schemes the offense has been executing at a higher level than he believed, and make plans for how to lean into those plays down the stretch.

Defensive coordinator DeMarcus Covington found his unit must further emphasize communication against teams that go up-tempo against them.

As for head coach Jerod Mayo: “You start with the scheme, then you go to the players and then, honestly, what I can do better. Those are all part of the discussion.”

4. QB run incoming?

At the start of Thursday’s practice, Maye was spotted drilling a zone-read run, wherein he holds the ball in the belly of the running back after the snap and either hands it off or keeps the ball and runs based on the movement of an unblocked defender.

Maye, who ran option concepts like this in college, has yet to do so in the NFL. But over the last few weeks, Mayo and Van Pelt have sounded increasingly open to utilizing Maye on designed run plays.

Three weeks ago, Mayo said: “Our message to Drake – we’ve had multiple conversations about this – is to maintain being a quarterback as long as possible, and that’s what we expect. Now, in saying that, absolutely there will be game-plan runs at a certain time. We’re still evolving as an offense, and I think Drake is continuing to get better. So, we’ll put more on his plate.”

5. Dont’a Hightower, growing

Over his first season as the Patriots’ inside linebackers coach, Dont’a Hightower has been learning on the fly.

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Running meetings and drills on his own, while collaborating on game plans.

Lately, Hightower has taken tips from fellow position coaches Mike Pellegrino (cornerbacks) and Brian Belichick (safeties) on how to maximize his meeting time with more efficient preparation. Thanks to them, Hightower indicated his meetings are now covering more ground.

“As a player, you kind of feel like you’re in meetings all the time. But a lot of those meetings, you don’t necessarily get to hit everything that you want to get to,” he said. “And I learned a lot from Mike (Pellegrino) and Brian (Belichick), just as far as the preparation goes. So, the last month or two has been a lot better for me as far as that.

“I just want to continue to stay on top of that.”