The New England Patriots are in a position of power and other teams around the NFL know it.
Holding the No. 3 pick, de facto general manager Eliot Wolf and head coach Jerod Mayo are positioned to add a blue-chip prospect to the most important position in sports. That’s why, as of Tuesday, it’s not expected that the Patriots will trade down in the NFL draft.
According to one source, the Patriots have fielded calls and trade offers for their first-round pick. However, the source indicated that those offers were “laughable” and not close to getting the Patriots to move down. As of now, the team is still waiting for a “serious” offer.
A second source stated that he wasn’t sure that such an offer exists or that another team would be willing to put together an unprecedented package to move the Patriots off the No. 3 pick.
The reason is simple: The Patriots’ top goal is to land a quarterback and they believe they’ll land a high-upside prospect worthy of the No. 3 pick. The betting favorites are Jayden Daniels, Drake Maye and J.J. McCarthy.
As of this week, sources have said that there’s a sense of excitement inside Gillette Stadium. The pre-draft process has only reinforced the notion that this year’s quarterback class is deep. The Patriots entered the offseason with a plan to fix the franchise and their quarterback position. The first two steps were signing a veteran, Jacoby Brissett, and trading Mac Jones.
The next step will be drafting a rookie on Thursday night.
Sources told MassLive at the NFL Combine that the team believed there were three quarterbacks in this draft worthy of the No. 3 pick. At that time, the indication was that those three were Caleb Williams, Daniels and Maye. Sources said the Patriots would be happy with either Daniels or Maye.
The only thing that’s changed since then is the emergence of McCarthy. There is legitimate interest in the quarterback from Michigan. One league source who works for another team said there are people around the NFL who have McCarthy ranked higher than Maye.
It remains to be seen if the Patriots are one of those teams.
When it comes to the No. 3 pick, the expectation around the NFL is that the Patriots will stand pat and draft a quarterback. Of course, that plan can change if another team is willing to offer a big trade package to the Patriots.
If that happens, the Patriots would still try to land a quarterback in the draft. But two days before this draft, no such trade offer has emerged.
That could change by Thursday night.
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