The Patriots are collecting former first-round picks at a ridiculous rate
The Patriots added a lot of former first-round picks this week.
By
John Breech
•
2 min read
Since Bill Belichick and the Patriots don't have a first-round pick in the upcoming NFL Draft, it appears that Belichick has gone to his backup plan: Bring in as many former first-rounders as possible.
In a span of 36 hours this week, the Patriots pulled off one of the most interesting feats of the offseason: They added four former first-round picks.
The series of transactions started on Tuesday, when the Patriots traded for Cardinals offensive lineman Jonathan Cooper, who was the seventh overall pick in the 2013 NFL Draft. Cooper hasn't exactly lived up to his first-round status, but he should be able to help a Patriots offensive line that struggled late in the season in 2015.
In the Cooper deal, the Patriots sent defensive end (and former first-round pick) Chandler Jones to Arizona, which left New England with a vacancy at the position. So what did the Patriots do?
Add a former first-round pick, of course. Just hours after the Cooper trade was first reported, New England signed former Rams defensive end Chris Long, who was the second overall pick in the 2008 NFL Draft. Long won't replace Jones' production, but if he's healthy in 2016, he could be a serviceable replacement.
The Patriots' first-round haul didn't stop there though. On Wednesday, the team added running back Donald Brown, who was the 27th overall pick in the 2009 NFL Draft.
New England then topped things off Wednesday night by adding former Bears linebacker Shea McClellin, who was the 19th overall pick in the 2012 NFL Draft. That's four first-round picks in 36 hours and it's not crazy to think that all four should be at least mildly productive for the Patriots this year.
Besides the former first-rounders, the Patriots also landed a 2008 second-round pick in Martellus Bennett (in a trade with the Bears), along with a second-round pick in the 2016 in the NFL Draft that came in the Cooper deal.
The bad news for the rest of the NFL is that even though the Patriots don't have a first-round pick this year, they'll still be loaded with ammo heading into the draft. New England is one of only four teams -- along with Seattle, Denver and Los Angeles -- that have four picks in the top 100 spots of the draft. Basically, if the Patriots see someone they want in the first round, they have enough picks stocked up to make a move if they need to.
