New England Patriots: Naming Riskiest Move of 2017 NFL Draft

The 2017 NFL draft is officially over after three days. What was the riskiest move for the New England Patriots?

Coming into the 2017 NFL Draft, we knew that the New England Patriots were going to be a bit limited after trading their first two picks.

Even though they have been good in recent years in the NFL Draft, they couldn’t pass up to good deals to acquire Brandin Cooks and Kony Ealy. In addition to using their top two picks on those two players, the Patriots also traded a pick for tight end Dwayne Allen.

Due to Martellus Bennett leaving in free agency, the Patriots had to make a move to get a solid tight end to back up Rob Gronkowski. Allen should certainly fill that role nicely, but it did come at the cost of a mid-round pick.

Just prior to the NFL Draft, the Patriots also signed running back Mike Gillislee to an offer sheet. The Buffalo Bills declined to match the offer and received another compensatory pick from the Patriots.

Recently, Mike Reiss of ESPN.com named the riskiest move for the Patriots in the NFL Draft. Here’s what he had to say.

"Riskiest move: The Patriots only made four picks, the smallest class in Bill Belichick’s 18 drafts with the team. They focused on known value in trading for Cooks, defensive end Kony Ealy and tight end Dwayne Allen, and signing restricted running back Mike Gillislee, which depleted their draft capital. In a year when many felt the draft was deep, it’s possible this overall approach could come back to haunt the team. — Mike Reiss"

Seeing the Patriots make just four picks in the NFL certainly came as a surprise. However, they used their draft picks very well this year to acquire talent to help them compete for a Super Bowl next season.

Next: Naming Best Move of 2017 NFL Draft

Even though the Patriots made just four picks, they were able to fill some needs on their team with talented prospects. Time will tell if the Patriots made mistakes in this draft, but it looks pretty good as of now.