The Patriots raised plenty of eyebrows earlier this year when they traded backup quarterback Joe Milton and a seventh-round pick in this year’s draft to the Cowboys for a fifth-round pick.

There was some thought it had to do with New England’s quarterback of the future, Drake Maye, being threatened by Milton.

New head coach Mike Vrabel said the move was made for “the best of the team.”

NFL insider Greg Bedard said on his “Patriots Podcast” that the trade was made not because of a potential threat to Maye, but that Milton “and this is a direct quote from someone in the organization — ‘is not a good dude.’

“Knowing your role, playing your role, being part of a harmonious quarterback room — that was going to be an issue. It wasn’t about Drake Maye. It was just about the room.”

For what it’s worth, Maye — in his first public comments since the Milton trade — said this week that he had no issues with Milton.

“I texted Joe. Me and Joe came in together. We learned the offense together. We were competing every day to out-throw each other at practice. And obviously he’s got a big arm. So it was cool for him to get a chance to go and be be a backup,” Maye said.

“I think you saw in the Bills game his potential. And I think we kind of have a similar play style a little bit, and it was kind of related to our similar college offense to this offense. And it was cool to be in the room and have somebody to bounce ideas, or, ‘Hey, you remember doing this in college?’ and stuff like that.”

It’s part of what’s been a busy offseason in New England, who canned Jerod Mayo almost immediately after his final postgame press conference following just one season as head coach, when he replaced Bill Belichick. 

They hired Vrabel a week later and brought back Josh McDaniels for the third time as offensive coordinator and acquired veteran receiver Stefon Diggs as a free agent.