Tag: Patriots trade down

Patriots move down on draft board in fourth-round trade with Raiders

The Patriots now have a fifth-round pick, thanks to a fourth-round trade with the Raiders.

Coming into the 2023 NFL draft, the New England Patriots didn’t have a fifth-round draft pick. But that changed on Saturday with the team striking up a late fourth-round trade with the Las Vegas Raiders.

The Patriots traded the No. 135 overall pick to the Las Vegas Raiders for a fifth-rounder (No. 144) and sixth-rounder (No. 214).

This is the team’s second trade on Day 3 with coach Bill Belichick clearly looking to move around the board, while also stockpiling more draft picks. What else is new?

So far, the Patriots have come away with center Jake Andrews, kicker Chad Ryland and offensive guard Sidy Sow.

The Patriots are still loaded with draft picks and the ability to do whatever they want heading into the fifth round of the event. Will they strike up more trades or continue to load their roster?

[lawrence-auto-related count=3]

[mm-video type=playlist id=01eqby79hc76t2s390 player_id=01eqbvhghtkmz2182d image=]

2023 official NFL draft kit from Cam Garrity

All of your draft needs are here, from big-board rankings to breakdowns and grades for top prospects.

As the 2023 NFL Draft rolls in, it’s time for our official draft kit. I did this kit last year for our friends at Lions Wire wanted to bring it back for another year.

I typically start official draft preparation in the New Year and spend a few months diving into players on film and re-watching full games for situational awareness. I do watch college football games year-round. So I have a general sense of the players that popped. This is just a deeper dive that is started in January.

I like to spend all my focus on one player at a time before giving out my grade, essentially filling out my top 10 at each position then organizing the top-50 big board. This helps form the kit right in time for the draft so that any fans reading it can get a general sense of the player, their skills, where they went and how they fit.

I also take a look at the big boards across multiple different sources and different mediums to understand the general consensus of players eligible and where people rank them. This is usually done as quality control for my own work once my evaluations are completed.

The big board is just a starting point in a vacuum.

As the draft rolls on, positional value, team needs and fit all come into play. So sometimes, player No. 10 might go first overall, and that’s simply because players 1-9 do not make sense for them to grab. I would recommend filling for need and fit regardless of the big board, unless that player was a can’t miss, Hall of Fame-level talent right out of the gate.

Before we jump right into the kit, here’s a little background of the grading system I use: