A behind-the-scenes look at why the Patriots stuck at No. 3 and selected Drake Maye

He then visited Kraft’s office and FaceTimed rock star Jon Bon Jovi, who assumed the 21-year-old surely wouldn’t recognize him.

The Friday festivities have become an annual tradition for the Patriots’ first-round draft choice, with Maye following cornerback Christian Gonzalez (2023), guard Cole Strange (2022), and quarterback Mac Jones (2021).

As the Patriots kick off their new era with Wolf and Mayo at the helm, they’re hopeful Maye’s visit will be remembered fondly as a turning point.

“This is an exciting moment for us,” Kraft told Maye. “We really were happy to be able to wind up where we did with you. There’s nothing more important to our family than winning football games. We want to keep it going. We hope you become a big part of it.”

The fact that the Patriots stood pat with the No. 3 pick may have come as a surprise to some. They could have leveraged their position to acquire additional draft capital — a reasonable course of action, given the holes on the roster and an abysmal offensive performance last season.

Internally, though, the Patriots knew they couldn’t pass up the chance to nab a top-tier quarterback prospect, especially one they believe has the physical tools, mental makeup, and leadership skills to help return the team to prominence.

“All along, we knew we were in a unique opportunity here to get a quarterback that we liked,” Wolf said Thursday. “We were obviously able to do that.”

At no point during the predraft process did the Patriots publicly shut down trade discussions involving the No. 3 pick. Each time Wolf and Mayo spoke to the media, they expressed their willingness to engage in negotiations. The Vikings and Giants called, but neither offered a rich enough package.

The Patriots kept the phone lines open for an over-the-top offer, yet they knew the most likely outcome was standing pat. The high interest in the pick only affirmed their decision. By the time they were on the clock Thursday evening, they hardly used the entire 10 minutes allotted to them.

The Patriots, like the rest of the league, had known for a while that the Bears planned to take Southern Cal’s Caleb Williams with the first pick, and learned weeks before the draft that the Commanders planned to take LSU’s Jayden Daniels at No. 2. That meant Maye would fall to them at No. 3.

At the beginning of the predraft process, Mayo acknowledged the pitfalls of those circumstances. The Patriots didn’t want to take the quarterback that fell to them out of default, he said. But that proved not to be the case. The Patriots wanted Maye.

“The more exposures we had with Drake, the more comfortable we felt,” Mayo said.

Even before meeting Maye, the Patriots had identified favorable qualities beyond his tremendous arm strength, mobility, and frame (6 feet 4 inches, 230 pounds). They liked his ability to elevate those around him and his toughness — traits Wolf, Mayo, and offensive coordinator Alex Van Pelt mentioned when describing their ideal quarterback.

“The thing that most impressed me about him was he would get smashed and just get right back up,” Mayo said. “That’s the same trait — you had a guy like Tom Brady — not saying that he’s Tom, but just that mentality.

“Same thing with Joe Burrow. Those guys just keep getting back up and continuing to play at a high level. That was like the ‘aha’ moment for me.”

Their evaluation only improved the more they learned about Maye off the field. According to North Carolina offensive coordinator Chip Lindsey, it was easy for the staff to answer questions about Maye’s work ethic and leadership skills.

“A guy that’s renowned as he was, he was the same every day,” Lindsey said. “There was never an ego. To me, the guys that are the best players and that don’t have the biggest egos are the guys that can kind of get a grip on everybody and bring them together.”

Maye’s teammates also had no problem coming up with examples of his competitiveness outside of football. Maye seemed to take every activity seriously, from casual rounds of “H-O-R-S-E” to recreational volleyball matches to pickleball with his family.

“He starts talking trash to everybody,” wide receiver Devontez Walker said. “I was on his [volleyball] team and he was talking crazy to me. You want that out of your quarterback.

“And you can see it on the field. He’s talking to the other team and telling what’s about to happen — and then those types of things happen. It just shows the competitive nature in him.”

The Patriots first interviewed Maye at the scouting combine — a conversation Mayo later called “fantastic” — and then sent nine people to North Carolina’s Pro Day before hosting Maye at Gillette Stadium for a visit.

As part of those meetings, they asked Maye to break down game film, and they came away impressed with not only his high football intellect but also his accountability. They watched Maye’s postgame press conferences and, once again, came away impressed.

“He handled it with grace, with class,” Wolf said. “There were a lot of times where the reporters were trying to get him to throw somebody under the bus, and he wouldn’t do it. He’s a 21-year-old kid, but he’s very mature and understands what it means to be a leader.”

The Patriots also learned about Maye’s athletic family. His father, Mark, was a quarterback at North Carolina. His brother Luke won a national championship with the 2017 North Carolina men’s basketball team — and hit a game-winning shot over Kentucky in the Elite Eight — and his brother Cole won a national championship as part of the 2017 Florida baseball team.

Growing up in that environment helped shape Maye’s competitiveness from an early age.

“I was the runt for a while,” Maye said. “They’re all over there, you know, 6-foot-7, 6-foot-8, 6-foot-9, so I’m still the shortest. But I was the instigator growing up. I was getting beat up on. Luckily, I was the most athletic, so I could run away from them and they couldn’t catch me.

“But they played a big part in getting me here today. Sports has done so much for my family.”

In getting to know Maye, watching his game tape, and speaking to those close to him, the Patriots determined he has the foundation to become the organization’s franchise quarterback. His ceiling outweighed the alternatives of trading back. Wolf, Mayo, and Kraft have acknowledged the importance of having a top-rate quarterback.

Maye spent only the Friday after he got drafted in Foxborough, before traveling to North Carolina. Soon enough, though, he’ll be back for rookie minicamp (May 10-11) and the start of organized team activities (May 20).

It’ll take time before the Patriots know whether their promising assessment of Maye holds true. But he certainly plans on doing all that he can to prove them right.

“Thanks for trusting me, for believing in me,” he said. “Hopefully, I’m not going to make you regret it.”

Nicole Yang can be reached at nicole.yang@globe.com.Follow her @nicolecyang.