Drama is spilling out of the New England Patriots locker room after Joe Milton was traded to the Dallas Cowboys. New England Patriots insider Greg Bedard reported Milton is “not a good dude” because he challenged for the Patriots’ starting quarterback job.

The Patriots have a unique locker room culture, which was set by longtime head coach Bill Belichick. Everyone comes in, does their job, and puts the team first.

While that culture has carried over to other head coaches since Belichick’s departure, it has upset some people that Milton came into the organization wanting the starting job instead of simply doing “his” job.

Certain people inside the Patriots’ locker room were not happy with Milton, a 2024 sixth-round draft pick by the Patriots, because of his desire to be the Patriots’ starter. It reportedly hurt his reputation in the locker room and damaged the quarterback room.

“Joe Milton was, and this is a direct quote from someone in the organization, not a good dude,” said Bedard. “And [he was] not conducive to a good quarterback room. I’m not saying he — they did say that, but I think they just meant in terms of knowing your role, playing your role, being part of a harmonious quarterback room. That that was going to be an issue. And it wasn’t about Drake Maye, it was just about the room.”

This type of reputation for Milton is interesting as he seemed to be a great locker room guy at Tennessee, even through his ups and downs. He mentored Nico Iamaleava during his second stint as the starter and didn’t seem to have any major issues after being benched for Hendon Hooker.

The reality is that Milton likely saw the opportunity to be the Patriots’ starting quarterback last year over Drake Maye and wanted to compete for the job. His Week 18 performance showed that he had the potential to be the best quarterback in the Patriots’ QB room.

Clearly, the Patriots didn’t want that and wanted to go all-in on developing Maye as New England’s next franchise quarterback.

Unfortunately, the situation didn’t work out. Milton is now a quarterback for the Dallas Cowboys and will hopefully get a fair opportunity to become the Cowboys’ next quarterback once they move on from the Dak Prescott experience.