B+
New England Patriots
The Patriots won the weekend at the trade table. Grade: B+.
by Pats Hopeful ·
2025 NFL Draft
· 10 picks
· 6 steals
· 4 reaches
Nobody had Cashius Howell this high, and it is not close. The Patriots reached 123 spots to get him at the 106th overall pick.
However the rest shakes out, Slaughter at that price is a win they earned. Every deal seemed to tilt their way, which is not luck. They punted on safety, and it is the miss that keeps the grade honest.
Edge rusher is handled and the depth chart looks a good deal healthier for it.
Good work on the whole, with safety the one box left unchecked.
Pick-by-Pick
In No. 25 they get a blindside protector, a steep price for the projection. A real need, handled.
A tidy bit of business in Round 2, Pick 7, where Emeka Egbuka graded well above the range. A must-fix position, and they treated it like one.
They barely believed it either: Isaiah Bond still on the board at the Round 2 slot. The one spot they could not leave alone, and did not.
Value with a capital V on Alfred Collins in the 70th pick, a genuine coup. It answers the question that was keeping the coaches up at night.
The board had cheaper options than Donovan Jackson at pick 80, and it noticed. Another box on the needs board, quietly ticked.
Value said wait; Cashius Howell in slot 106 says they were not listening. That was the need underlined and circled, and now it is checked off.
Barrett Carter in slot 141 should not have been possible, and that is the whole point. Not urgent, but hardly pointless.
They read the board right and Brant Kuithe was the payoff at the 221st overall pick. It plugs a real leak on the depth chart.
Taking Jake Slaughter in pick 223 is close to grand larceny; an offensive lineman that good had no business lasting this long. A sensible fit that makes the depth chart a little sturdier.
Xavier Truss in No. 235 is a reach so steep the board needed a second look to believe it. A sensible fit for a spot that needed help.