Podcast: Here are two early-round QBs the Patriots could target after Brandin Cooks trade

Ben Volin of the Boston Globe joins the Pick Six Podcast to break down the Patriots sending Brandin Cooks to the Rams

By Will Brinson

Apr 4, 2018 at 7:57 am ET • 2 min read

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A sleepy little offseason Tuesday was rudely interrupted by Bill Belichick kicking in the door with a surprising trade of Brandin Cooks to the Rams. Apparently Les Snead had gone six hours without trading for someone and he needed a fix. Actually, the Rams were looking for a Sammy Watkins replacement, the Patriots weren't interested in paying Cooks a long-term extension and New England was able to give Los Angeles a No. 1 wideout for less than the cost of Odell Beckham.

To break down the deal, Ben Volin of the Boston Globe (@BenVolin on Twitter) joined the Pick Six Podcast -- newly revamped, by the way, with 30-minute episodes coming out every single weekday before you head off to work -- to break down the details of the trade from both sides. We covered a bunch of different topics, but the most interesting was how the Pats will approach the draft.

Volin firmly believes New England is targeting a quarterback early in the draft, and could certainly trade up to try and grab one in the first round. One name in particular stands out: Mason Rudolph.

"They have some flexibility to move around. I think they're realistically looking at the teens and the second tier of quarterbacks. I've got my eye on Mason Rudolph," Volin explained. "I've heard some people say they like him the best of any of the quarterbacks in the draft. He's a big kid, a pro style type of kid. Just the type who can sit for a year or two and learn from Belichick. So that's who I've got my eye on."

The other name to watch is Richmond's Kyle Lauletta, a quarterback engineered in a lab to play for Bill Belichick, and a popular name in Pats country.

"Obviously here in New England, people are looking at this Kyle Lauletta kid. Richmond, so the parallels already to [Jimmy] Garoppolo, playing at a lower level," Volin said. "He's a lacrosse player. We all know Belichick wants to only strictly draft lacrosse players and fulfill his dream of fielding an entire lacrosse team on a football field. The kid's got ties to the Navy, his dad was a punter there, there's just so many ties between Lauletta and the Patriots that it just seems too obvious that they're going to draft him."

But Volin doesn't see the Pats making some bananas trade up into the top 10 or top five in order to get a quarterback. It's just too pricey and they've got too much competition and too many other needs on the roster. The middle of the first round is the sweet spot.

"I think they want to go big. I think they want to go higher. Somewhere in that mid-first to mid-second round range I think they're going to be looking at a quarterback," Volin said.

The 2018 NFL Draft is legitimately shaping up to be one of the wilder drafts in recent memories. Multiple teams are holding multiple first-round picks and there are roughly 10-12 teams who are actively hunting franchise quarterbacks. As usual, there is a shortage.

It's been a spicy offseason already, and with the Patriots involved in the quarterback hunt during the draft, it only promises to get more intriguing.

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