D+
New England Patriots
The Patriots got the worse of every deal, and it shows in the D+.
by BBB ·
2024 NFL Draft
· 23 picks
· 1 steals
· 8 reaches
The trade table was where it all came apart. The Patriots shipped out far more than they hauled back, and no amount of spin dresses up the bill. It grades a D+, and the process earned it.
If Jean-Baptiste pans out, nobody remembers the price. If not, this is the pick they hear about. Getting Pearl where they did is the sort of value that quietly makes a class.
The hoard sets up next April more than it helps this September.
It is a steep hill from here, and the grade knows it.
Pick-by-Pick
In Round 1, Pick 8 they get an anchor for the offensive line. A clean fit for the roster.
They paid sticker price for Xavier Legette in pick No. 37, and that is fine. This was priority one on the needs board, and now it is handled.
A market-rate edge rusher, with the board and the slot shaking hands on Chris Braswell. It answers the question that was keeping the coaches up at night.
Nothing to complain about; Kingsley Suamataia went a shade earlier than his grade, which is fine. A sensible fit for a spot that needed help.
Calen Bullock at the 81st pick is neither steal nor reach, just the going rate. The one spot they could not leave alone, and did not.
Braelon Allen at slot 100 is right where the board had him, plain and simple. A sensible fit that makes the depth chart a little sturdier.
Cole Bishop in No. 103 is fair value, right on his grade. Top of the wish list, and they did not leave without it.
Zak Zinter in the Round 4 slot is exactly on the number, no argument either way. It shores up a spot that genuinely needed the help.
They took Matt Goncalves at par in No. 115, which is nothing to complain about. The roster fit checks out.
Elijah Jones at pick No. 118 is a sensible buy, a touch better than market for the cornerback. A quiet depth add at a thin-ish spot.
This one needs a full-page explanation: Justin Eboigbe in pick 126, miles early. They walked in needing this and walked out with it.
They reached a country mile for Luke McCaffrey at the Round 4 slot, and the board is aghast. It also answers one of the loudest questions on the roster.
Jalyx Hunt at the 143rd pick is a clear overpay, with better names still on the board. Better still, it is exactly the hole they had to fill.
Marist Liufau at Round 5, Pick 10 is a steep price for a hunch, hard to square with any board. Not urgent, but hardly pointless.
AJ Barner at slot 152 is an overdraft of the loud, memorable kind. It plugs a real leak on the depth chart.
By-the-book stuff, Dwight McGlothern at the 154th overall pick squarely in line with his ranking. It is more luxury than necessity; they were already set here.
Joe Milton III at pick No. 180 is the kind of overdraft that needs everything to break right. A need, and now a little less of one.
A straight-up fair deal on Cornelius Johnson at Round 6, Pick 12, value and slot in agreement. That was the need underlined and circled, and now it is checked off.
A tidy little value on Tip Reiman in the 189th overall pick, a step better than break-even. Another box on the needs board, quietly ticked.
They reached into another round for Javontae Jean-Baptiste, and the board is nowhere close to agreeing. A must-fix position, and they treated it like one.
They went early on Gabe Hall in No. 213, and the value did not follow. The biggest hole on the depth chart just got a whole lot smaller.
They read the board right and Julian Pearl was the payoff at pick 214. It fills a real need, too.
JD Bertrand at slot 224 is a sound buy, the sort that quietly helps a class. Depth on depth, at a spot that was hardly crying out.