FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — With the No. 3 overall pick in their back pocket, the Patriots have some serious capital in the upcoming NFL Draft.
New England could either stand pat and pick a player third — likely a quarterback — or trade down, stockpile picks and reinforce other weak spots on its roster.
During a predraft press conference at Gillette Stadium on Thursday morning, de facto general manager Eliot Wolf was asked how he’d characterize trade talks at this point.
“Ongoing,” Wolf said. “We’re open to anything. Moving up. Moving down. We’re open for business in the first round and in every round. We have some holes we feel like we need to fill in the draft. We’re a draft and develop team. The more picks we have, the better. But if there’s an opportunity to move up and strike if the board recommends it, then we won’t be afraid to pull the trigger on that either.”
At the NFL owners’ meetings earlier this month, Coach Jerod Mayo said the Patriots will certainly be listening to offers all April long.
“We sit at a very enviable spot at No. 3 where we can take someone at three or if someone offers a bag, as we would say — you know a lot of first-round picks — we definitely have to talk about those things,” Mayo said. “And as we continue to put together this team, there are holes on this team, but I would also say there will be people available going forward.”
Thus far, no such “bag” has come to their doorstep in Foxborough.
“No, not yet,” Wolf said, noting that teams “have up until we’re on the clock.”
Wolf said he’s seen major trades completed both on draft night and well ahead of that. In March 2021, he was actually at BYU’s Pro Day scouting Zach Wilson when the 49ers completed a blockbuster, sending three first-round picks to Miami to jump up the board. That was weeks before the draft began and they wound up taking Trey Lance at No. 3 overall.
“We were all there watching one of the quarterbacks, so it was an interesting buzz to be there at the Pro Day,” Wolf said.
PACKERS: Offensive tackle Andre Dillard signed with the Green Bay Packers one month after the Tennessee Titans released him.
Dillard, 28, made 10 starts and played 16 games at left tackle for the Titans last season, but was benched at one point in the season as the Titans started four different players at that spot.
Before joining the Titans, Dillard spent his first four seasons with the Philadelphia Eagles, who selected him out of Washington State with the 22nd overall pick in the 2019 draft.
Dillard has played 59 regular-season games with 19 starts.
RAMS: The most recent time the Los Angeles Rams made a first-round pick in the NFL draft, Sean McVay was Washington’s offensive coordinator and Puka Nacua was a high school freshman.
That was in 2016, just after the Rams moved back home to Los Angeles from St. Louis. General Manager Les Snead’s team was nothing special at that time following 12 consecutive non-winning seasons, and the Rams decided they needed to make a big splash in Hollywood by trading up for Jared Goff.
Boldly adding a solid quarterback — and eventually trading that quarterback for Matthew Stafford — put McVay in position to lead the Rams back from irrelevance and into near-annual playoff contention. They’ve racked up six winning seasons, five playoff berths, three NFC West titles, two Super Bowl appearances and one championship since the most recent time they picked in the first round.
The Rams have been annual Thursday nonparticipants in the draft for several very good reasons, in fact: McVay probably wouldn’t have enjoyed all of his success without Snead’s judicious use of his first-round picks as capital for improving his team with veterans.
The Rams’ first-round pick in 2017 went to Tennessee as part of the Goff deal. Their pick in 2018 went to New England to land receiver Brandin Cooks. Snead used his first-rounder in 2019 to trade back for more draft capital.
Los Angeles’ first-round selections in 2020 and 2021 then went to Jacksonville for star defensive back Jalen Ramsey, while his first-rounders in 2022 and 2023 went to Detroit in the deal for Stafford. Both players were vital to the Rams’ championship run in early 2022.
BEARS: The Chicago Bears are poised to select USC quarterback Caleb Williams with the No. 1 overall pick in the NFL draft and bank on the 2022 Heisman Trophy winner to stabilize a position that has long haunted the founding NFL franchise.
They made their intentions clear when they traded Justin Fields to Pittsburgh last month. And barring a major surprise, Mommissioner Roger Goodell will call Williams’ name when the pick is made.
“It’s Caleb Williams all the way,” ESPN analyst Mel Kiper Jr. said.
REINSTATED: Washington Commanders defensive end Shaka Toney was among five players reinstated by the NFL after they were suspended last season for violating the league’s gambling policy.
Four free agents were also among the group and can now sign with teams: outside linebacker Rashod Berry, wide receiver Quintez Cephus, safety CJ Moore and defensive tackle Demetrius Taylor.
The league’s gambling policy prohibits players, coaches, team officials and league personnel from betting on NFL games, placing bets at team facilities or team hotels or having someone else place a bet for them.
Cephus and Moore were both members of the Detroit Lions in April 2023 when they were suspended for the 2023 season. Toney was also suspended last April. Berry was with the Indianapolis Colts and Taylor was a free agent when they got suspended last June.
BROWNS: While Deshaun Watson’s rehab from right shoulder surgery is on a conservative track, the Cleveland Browns are expecting the quarterback to be ready for their season opener.
“We feel really good about it,” GM Andrew Berry said at his annual predraft news conference. “I’m not going to make any predictions, just because you just never know. But that’s certainly our expectation.”
Watson suffered a fracture to the glenoid bone in his throwing shoulder and had his second season with Cleveland end after just six starts.
The 28-year-old Watson has played in 12 games since the Browns acquired him in a 2022 trade from Houston and signed him to a fully guaranteed $230 million contract.
CHARGERS: Running back J.K. Dobbins signed a one-year contract with the Chargers, continuing the run of former Baltimore Ravens coming to Los Angeles.
Dobbins is the fourth former Ravens player signed by GM Joe Hortiz, who joined the Chargers in February after a long tenure in Baltimore, including the past 10 as director of college scouting.
Dobbins averaged 5.8 rushing yards per carry the past four seasons, which leads the league among players with a minimum of 200 rushing attempts. However, he has played in only nine games the past three seasons because of injuries.
He missed the 2021 season after suffering a left knee injury in the preseason finale. Dobbins played in only one game last year when he tore his Achilles tendon during the second half of the opener against Houston.
Dobbins will be reunited with running back Gus Edwards, his teammate in the Ravens’ backfield the past four seasons. Offensive coordinator Greg Roman was also in Baltimore during Dobbins’ first three years in the league.
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