A
New England Patriots
Grand theft in the 219th pick: the Patriots steal Higgins and grade out a A.
by Sean Romiza ·
2025 NFL Draft
· 8 picks
· 6 steals
· 0 reaches
Thirty-one other rooms let Jay Higgins slide, and the Patriots were the ones holding the card at No. 219. Highway robbery. It holds up to a second look, which is why it earns the A.
They won the margins on every swap, and it adds up fast. A whole weekend of picks and edge rusher is somehow still a want. The future picks help the war chest more than the win-now roster.
In the end it comes back to Ashton Jeanty, and a haul good enough to build on right away.
Pick-by-Pick
In No. 12 they get a featured back, outstanding value to boot.
Tate Ratledge at slot 34 is a sensible buy, a touch better than market for the offensive lineman. A sensible fit that makes the depth chart a little sturdier.
They let Tyler Booker come to them and pounced at Round 2, Pick 14. It fills a real need, too.
Steal is underselling it; Dylan Sampson at pick No. 67 is a heist with the alarm still ringing. It plugs a real leak on the depth chart.
They robbed the room for Andrew Mukuba here, a fall nobody at the table saw coming. Better still, it is exactly the hole they had to fill.
Barrett Carter in the 138th overall pick is the kind of fall that makes a whole class. A quiet depth add at a thin-ish spot.
Jay Higgins in the Round 7 slot should not have been possible, and that is the whole point. Depth on depth, at a spot that was hardly crying out.
A clean, defensible pick in pick 238 with a little surplus value in Shilo Sanders. Top of the wish list, and they did not leave without it.