The second day of any NFL Draft is generally filled with special guests announcing picks throughout the night, and that is expected to continue on Day 2 of this year's draft. The Patriots have already announced that Super Bowl hero James White will be making selections throughout the evening, but he won't be the only one participating in the remaining picks.
The expectation always is that legendary players will be the ones the team brings in to make the special announcements, so more players like White were projected to be part of this year's draft.
But that doesn't appear to be the case, at least according to Pat McAfee, who revealed that WWE superstar and current Undisputed WWE Champion John Cena will join actor Idris Elba to be part of introducing the Patriots' No. 69 pick in Round 3.
Considering Cena is from Massachusetts, he fits the bill of who makes sense to announce a pick for New England. It also doesn't hurt that he and Elba will promote their new movie together to add even more sense to their presence. But it feels like a giant missed opportunity on the Patriots' part not to have a former player make the pick simply due to the pick number itself.
BREAKING: Per source(s)@WWE Legend & BRAND NEW @HeymanHustle guy, @WWERollins, will announce the Bears 2nd round pick (41) LIVE in Green Bay TONIGHT
— Pat McAfee (@PatMcAfeeShow) April 25, 2025
AND @WWE Undisputed Champion, @JohnCena, filmed a special message with Idris Elba in London as part of the Patriots pick at 69 pic.twitter.com/JfRjF8xDfY
For as long as fans can remember, Rob Gronkowski has made jokes about the number 69 since he joined the league in 2010. He even touted wanting that to be his jersey number, but couldn't use it since he was a tight end.
Because the Patriots have the 69th selection, they very easily could have had Gronkowski be the one to announce the pick for old times' sake and continue an ongoing joke amongst the fans, as well.
It would also prove that things have been smoothed over with the future Hall of Famer, who abruptly retired after the 2018 season and has made it clear he would like to retire a Patriot if the offer is made. So far, Robert Kraft hasn't said much about going through with that, but Gronkowski has been spending time with his former team over the past year, seemingly confirming things have improved between them all.
Having him announce the No. 69 pick would just be the cherry on top of Gronkowski's involvement with the Patriots once again, even if fans will love seeing Cena and Elba part of the announcement.