New Mock Draft Has Patriots Making a Shocking First-Round Trade

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In a new mock draft, Yahoo Sports has the New England Patriots predicted to trade their first-round pick to the Arizona Cardinals.

The weather is warming up with spring, and the NFL Draft is now less than two weeks away. So, it’s not a shock that the mock drafts are continuing to roll in, including a recent one that has the New England Patriots making a shocking first-round trade.

Nate Tice and Charles McDonald released this latest, updated mock draft through Yahoo Sports. It’s the 8.1 version, with seven mock drafts having preceded this. In those previous seven mock drafts, the Patriots were seen taking seven different players at five different positions, but this is the first version in which they’ll be trading the pick entirely.

The methodology for the mock draft was relatively simple. McDonald picked the odd numbered picks while Tice picked the even ones. With the Patriots picking at No. 31, it was McDonald’s pick to make.

New England Patriots Predicted to Trade the No. 31 Pick to the Arizona Cardinals

GettyNew England Patriots EVP of Player Personnel Eliot Wolf shared some insight into the organization’s dysfunction prior to the arrival of Mike Vrabel.

McDonald has the Arizona Cardinals making a trade here with the New England Patriots. This would allow the Cardinals to re-enter the first round and then select Alabama Crimson Tide quarterback Ty Simpson. Quarterback is, of course, a position of need for Arizona, but with the No. 3 pick, it would be a reach to take Simpson there.

The explanation given in the mock draft was largely centered around Arizona, with McDonald writing, “Arizona gets a quarterback to try and see if it can quickly get back into contention for the division without staying in the gutter too long.”

There are some obvious needs the Patriots could also use the pick on themselves. Among them are offensive line, edge rusher, and wide receiver. However, if New England thinks that they can go back into the early second round and still get who they want, this would be a way to stockpile picks. With Arizona only picking three picks after New England, it would not be a large step backwards. Of course, this is only a first-round mock draft. So, it’s unclear who McDonald and Tice expect the Patriots to select.

In this mock draft, three wide receivers, eight offensive linemen, and five edge rushers had already been selected. One player often mocked to New England still on the board, however, is Zion Young, an edge rusher from the Missouri Tigers. He ends up going to the Seattle Seahawks in this mock draft.

There Has Been Some Conversation About the Patriots Trading Their Pick

GettyNew England Patriots head coach Mike Vrabel

By no means is this mock draft the first one to suggest that the New England Patriots might trade their first-round pick. That doesn’t necessarily mean trading down, though. There is the option to trade up and go grab a player who they fall in love with.

Head coach Mike Vrabel was recently asked about the chance that the Patriots trade their first-round pick. He would, ultimately, keep his answer vague, but admitted there is a chance that it could happen.

“Maybe we trade up. Maybe we trade out. I don’t know,” Vrabel recently said. “But I love being able to work with Eliot and Ryan and their staff, and coaches, and try to bring that together.”

Time will tell what New England ends up doing with pick No. 31. The first round, and that ultimate decision, will take place on April 23rd.

Dan Morrison After graduating from UMass in 2019, Dan Morrison quickly began a career in sports journalism and digital media. That has seen him work both as a contributing writer at several publications, as well as spending time on the National News Desk at On3. During that time, he has spent the majority of his time covering football, both at the college and NFL levels. Currently residing in Central Florida, his focus with Heavy is on the NFL. More about Dan Morrison