The common perception of the Patriots acquiring a second first-round pick in a trade with the Rams, when New England sent Brandin Cooks to the west coast, was that New England would move up and take a quarterback. Ben Volin of the Boston Globe and I talked about this on the Pick Six Podcast -- subscribe here to get a 30-minute, daily dose of football news and analysis -- but it just makes too much sense based on the picks and timing for the Patriots not to draft a quarterback this year. Tom Brady isn't getting any younger and a rookie contract, especially with the fifth-year option attached to a first-round pick, would almost guarantee Brady's successor would be on the roster by the time he retires.

However, it's entirely possible the Pats decide not to make some insane move up the draft board for one of the top names. Baker Mayfield and Josh Rosen have been attached to New England in some reports, but Peter King of TheMMQB.com reports in a column this week that, "barring a surprise," New England won't make some wild move up the board. 

From King's column:

I would be surprised if the Patriots packaged some of the draft choices, or a high one this year and next, to move up for a quarterback. First: They don't have the ammo to move up for one of the top ones; the top four will likely be gone in the top 10 picks, and maybe in the top five. Second: Their needs elsewhere are too acute to go all-in for a quarterback this year. So, barring a big surprise, the Patriots won't mortgage these picks to move up for a passer.

The biggest obstacle to the Patriots might not even be the in-a-vacuum cost of moving up, but the real-world economics cost of moving up. More than half of the teams in the NFL have to be considered potential landing spots for the top six quarterbacks. 

The top four quarterbacks in the draft -- Baker Mayfield, Josh Rosen, Sam Darnold, Josh Allen -- are going to be gone by the time the sixth or seventh pick comes around barring a big surprise. Lamar Jackson and Mason Rudolph could follow shortly after. King pegs the Patriots landing Rudolph with the 63rd pick, which is the one they got for trading Jimmy Garoppolo, but that feels like wishful thinking. Luke Falk, the other name King mentions, is certainly a reality in that spot, but that would also speak to an inflated cost of landing a quarterback in this draft. 

There are also the other substantial needs the Patriots have. Getting a quarterback is important, but New England just traded away Jimmy G with the understanding it has a couple more years of Brady left. The Hall of Famer is under contract for two more seasons, so at the very least New England should hope it can fashion a championship-caliber defense for the 2018 and 2019 seasons. Adding two first-round talents would go a long way towards helping that cause.

Giving Brady -- and any future quarterback -- a left tackle to replace Nate Solder, who left for the Giants in free agency, should be a priority as well. Adding more weapons for an offensive unit that could find itself without Rob Gronkowski at some point in the near future makes a lot of sense too. King's logic in that regard is that the Pats want to stock the cupboard for the next quarterback and maybe even the next coach. Josh McDaniels spurning the Colts should mean he lands the Pats gig whenever Belichick walks away, which means adding a lot of talent to this roster now helps him in a huge way down the road. 

Maybe McDaniels can pound the table for a move up to get a quarterback, but if the Pats want to walk the line of winning now and building for later, it admittedly makes a ton of sense to load back up on players. Just when you think they're going to zig, they might do what they always do and zag.