Why the Patriots should not trade up in the 2023 NFL Draft

The New England Patriots have valuable draft capital to work with in the 2023 NFL Draft, but they should not make a big trade up in the first round.  Teams trading up in the first round to get their desired prospect is very common.

The first round prospects are obviously the best of the bunch, and especially at the quarterback position, teams need to put themselves in the best position to succeed, so making a big trade up has happened many times before.

The Chiefs traded up to select Patrick Mahomes.

The San Francisco 49ers traded up quite a bit to select Trey Lance, even though that didn’t work out.

The Denver Broncos traded up years ago to select Paxton Lynch, even though that didn’t work out either.

Point is, the first round is going to be active in this way.  However, I do not think the Patriots should be in the business of trading up.  In fact, I think it might make more sense for them to trade down.

One of the biggest reasons I think they should consider trading down, or to simply not trade up is because the Pats do not have much elite talent on their roster.  Their 14th overall pick might be able to be leveraged into two late first round picks or a late first rounder and some selections at the top of the second round.

I think New England should be in the business of acquiring more picks, perhaps in the top 50.  They do have a few clear needs on their roster, and I think giving themselves more chances to draft potentially elite players should be their strategy.

I also don’t like the idea of giving up draft picks, further depleting their draft pick cupboard just to be able to select one player.

Sure, if the Pats are doing homework on quarterbacks and like someone enough to make that big of a jump, then they should go for it, but outside of the QB spot, I don’t like the idea of the Patriots trading up to select another position.

They should stay put or trade down.