New England Patriots Land First Overall Pick in All-Trades Mock Draft
By Nick Ziegler
In Bill Barnwell’s recent all-trades Mock Draft, the New England Patriots end up with the first overall pick in the NFL draft. What wild deal makes this happen?
With the NFL Draft approaching for the New England Patriots, they are focused on helping improve with an eye on their sixth Super Bowl. As of now, the Patriots don’t have a pick in the first two rounds. However, that could all change quickly.
As of now, the Patriots still have Malcolm Butler and Jimmy Garoppolo in their control. Both are players that could bring the Patriots back a lot of they are traded, and there is certainly a possibility they could be moved before the draft.
In Bill Barnwell’s recent ESPN article he does an all-trades draft. Instead of having a team pick a player, he has them making a trade. It is a fun concept, and the trade that the Patriots are involved in is a wild one. Here is the deal that he has happening to start his draft.
"Patriots get: 1-1, 2018 conditional fourth-round pick, WR Josh Gordon (from Browns)Saints get: CB Malcolm Butler (from Patriots); 2-53, QB Cody Kessler (from Browns)Browns get: QB Jimmy Garoppolo, 2018 conditional fifth-round pick (from Patriots); 1-11, 3-76, LB Stephone Anthony (from Saints)"
This is certainly a home run of a deal for the Patriots, as they land the first overall pick in the NFL Draft, and also get Josh Gordon. With Myles Garrett looking like a franchise player on the defensive side of the ball, having the ability to draft him would be huge for New England.
In order to acquire that pick, the two rumors that we have heard about came true in this three-way deal. The Saints were finally able to get Malcolm Butler, and the Browns were able to address their quarterback situation by acquiring Garoppolo.
Next: Patriots 7-Round Mock Draft
While this trade likely will not happen come the NFL Draft, it is certainly an interesting idea by Barnwell. The Saints and Browns both acquire players from the Patriots that they have been reportedly interested in. Also, the Patriots land a top draft choice. It is a wild idea, but not the craziest by Barnwell.