The first of the three Tennessee players selected in the 2024 NFL Draft has officially signed his rookie contract with his new team. Quarterback Joe Milton III, who played three seasons for the Vols and was the starter during an 8-4 regular season in 2023, was drafted in the sixth round by the New England Patriots, who announced on Friday afternoon that he was one of three draft picks to sign. Milton, picked with the 193rd overall pick, took part in his first NFL practices this weekend when the Patriots staged their rookie minicamp.
According to Over The Cap, Milton’s four-year rookie contract as a sixth-round pick is anticipated to be worth $4,203,317, which includes a guaranteed signing bonus of $183,316.
Tennessee’s other draft picks, fourth-round running back Jaylen Wright (Dolphins) and sixth-round cornerback Kamal Hadden (Chiefs), have yet to sign, but all three have completed rookie minicamp workouts with their new teams.
Milton will wear No. 19 for New England, which drafted him after taking North Carolina standout Drake Maye with the third overall pick.
“You have to (develop them) together,” first-year Patriots head coach Jerod Mayo told reporters Saturday. “You want it to be a fair competition, especially when we start playing offence and defence. Look, once again, we have a lot of coaches who understand the position. So, after the specified period, those men will have to go out there and improve on their own. That’s where you really start to see the difference: those guys that go above and beyond.”
Milton joined 2023 third-round pick Hendon Hooker in giving Tennessee back-to-back drafted quarterbacks for the first time since the mid-1990s, making the Vols one of only three teams in the last five years to have quarterbacks selected in consecutive drafts.
The 6-foot-5, 246-pound Florida native played his first three collegiate seasons at Michigan, where he started five games during the pandemic-shortened 2020 season, before transferring to Tennessee, where he went 11-5 as a starter and passed for 2,813 yards on nearly 65% completions (229 of 354) with 20 touchdowns and five interceptions, as well as seven rushing touchdowns.
After competing in the Reese’s Senior Bowl, Milton was part of the same quarterback group at the NFL Scouting Combine, albeit the two first met last summer at the Manning Passing Academy in Louisiana.
“Joe’s my guy,” Maye told reporters following Saturday’s practice. “I got to know him in college and saw him at Manning camp. So we’re just competing, and we’re both new to this. We have strong arms, so we’re just out here throwing it and letting it rip.”
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