B+
New England Patriots
The Patriots won the weekend at the trade table. Grade: B+.
by Hunty ·
2024 NFL Draft
· 13 picks
· 2 steals
· 10 reaches
You can hear the double-takes from here. The Patriots took Matt Lee at Round 6, Pick 18, roughly 69 spots before his name belonged. Call it a sensible B+, earned the boring way.
They banked enough surplus on Coleman to cover a lot of smaller sins. The trade ledger is the best part of the whole weekend. If this class has a fault line, it runs straight through edge rusher.
The imported veterans give this class a floor the draft picks could not on their own.
In short, they left a little better than they arrived, which is the whole idea.
Pick-by-Pick
In pick No. 19 they get a blindside protector, even if it was a touch early.
They reached into another round for Xavier Legette, and the board is nowhere close to agreeing. Better still, it is exactly the hole they had to fill.
Ja'Tavion Sanders slid further than he should have, and the Round 2 slot is lovely value for the tight end. A sensible fit that makes the depth chart a little sturdier.
Patrick Paul in the 54th overall pick is a bet on their own eyes over everyone else's grade. One more legitimate question on the roster, answered.
They liked Blake Corum enough to skip the value, taking him in slot 68. A need, and now a little less of one.
A premium they did not need to pay, DJ James a notch or two before his time. It thickens a room that could stand to be thicker.
Kamren Kinchens at the Round 3 slot is right where the board had him, plain and simple. They walked in needing this and walked out with it.
Johnny Wilson at Round 4, Pick 3 jumps the queue by a touch more than is comfortable. That was the need underlined and circled, and now it is checked off.
They robbed the room for Brandon Coleman here, a fall nobody at the table saw coming. A sensible fit for a spot that needed help.
Jalen Coker at No. 180 is an overdraft of the loud, memorable kind. A must-fix position, and they treated it like one.
They reached a country mile for Matt Lee at pick 193, and the board is aghast. The roster fit checks out.
They left a pile of value on the table to take Frank Crum this early at slot 196. It plugs a real leak on the depth chart.
A reach on Carson Steele in the 231st pick; the board had better options right there. It fills a real need, too.