Potential Pats draft-day trades
There is no surer bet than Bill Belichick on the most unpredictable weekend of the NFL calendar. The Patriots front office is a lock to trade up and down the draft board every year, hunting for value as it annually reloads one of the league’s oldest rosters. Belichick has a proclivity for trading down, believing draft success stems more from holstering more picks than the highest ones. As the owners of one of the NFL’s smallest draft boards, the Pats recognize they usually can wait on top targets, who should still be available after other teams have picked from a larger prospect pool.
This year, that could all change. Patriots owner Robert Kraft said earlier this month he believes the front office has altered its draft formula. So it’s possible the Patriots could vault from their first pick at 15th overall into the top 10 — or perhaps five — to land their quarterback of the future. However, such a move would be unprecedented, and require Belichick to believe that the asking price to trade up is palatable and the fourth or fifth passer taken in this year’s class is a potential franchise quarterback; a historical outlier.
Is this likely? No. But not impossible. Therefore, keeping all scenarios on the table, here are four viable trades we’d like to see the Patriots strike that cover every reason why they might move: trading up for a quarterback, trading up for a non-quarterback, trading down, or trading for the future.