Entering Saturday, the Patriots were on the hook for six more picks in the 2025 NFL Draft.
After spending their first four picks on offense across the first two days, executive vice president of player personnel Eliot Wolf told the media on Friday that the team would look to start bolstering its defense on day three.
They did exactly that in their first go on the clock.
Here’s a running blog for what NFL Draft Day 3 looked like for the Patriots, updated throughout the day on Saturday:
Craig Woodson, S
At pick No. 106, the Patriots selected California safety Craig Woodson.
New England addresses a need at safety at the top of the fourth round, as veterans Kyle Dugger and Jabrill Peppers each had their worst seasons of their respective Patriot careers during the 2024 season.
Dugger was hampered by injury, and Peppers missed time while dealing with an off-field legal matter, being placed on the Commissioner Exempt List in early October. But when both players were on the field, neither lived up to the contract extensions they each signed last offseason.
At 6-feet-tall and 200 pounds, Woodson gives a veteran safety room both needed depth at the position as well as a much-needed jolt of energy - maybe even a wake-up call for two players pushing 30 years old.
Running a 4.45 40-yard dash at the NFL Scouting Combine in March, Woodson showed elite speed in Indianapolis that backed up his game tape at Cal.
On top of the speed, Woodson loves to hit.
“I mean, hitting people is what I’ve liked to do since I was a kid,” Woodson told the Boston media on Webex shortly after being selected. “Like, when I first started playing football - like, just running up, hitting somebody, smacking them, getting them on the ground, like that’s everything that I’ve loved since [being] a kid.
“So just coming into college and being physical as well, coming from Texas as well - like, we play physical football down in Texas. So bringing that to college at Cal - I mean, it was great, and I think that for me, that’s really the thrill of the game. Just running and hitting, that’s what I love. Running and hitting. So I’m gonna love bringing that to New England, and I know there’s guys there who are gonna be on the same page.”
Joshua Farmer, DT
At pick No. 137, the Patriots selected Florida State defensive tackle Joshua Farmer.
In Farmer, New England adds depth to a position of strength, with the team already possessing highly paid defensive tackles Milton Williams and Christian Barmore. Williams signed a four-year, $104 million contract with the Patriots in March after helping the Eagles win Super Bowl LIX, and Barmore signed a four-year extension last spring worth $92 million.
But with uncertainty surrounding Barmore’s health situation moving forward and with Williams set to see a workload increase from what he was asked to do in Philadelphia, the addition of Farmer at this point in the draft is a smart one.
At 6-foot-3 and 305 pounds, Farmer was impressive in late February at the NFL Scouting Combine. He ran a 5.11 40-yard dash with an accompanying 10-yard split of 1.77 - elite for a player at his size.
Here’s what I wrote about Farmer in my combine diary earlier this year:
“During a drill called “run and club” that consisted of defensive lineman punching tackle bags as they rushed up field and hard cut towards the sideline, Farmer jumped off the screen for me. His first step was crazy quick, and his hands were violent as he went through the drill. Earlier in the day, the 6-foot-3, 305-pound DT ran a 5.11 40-yard dash with a 10-yard split of 1.77. The explosiveness with this guy is no joke, and he is officially on my radar in a big way as draft season progresses.”
Apparently, he was also on the radar for Mike Vrabel and the Patriots.
The Patriots moved up to No. 137 to grab Farmer, sending Seattle pick No. 144 as well as pick No. 238 to get there.
Bradyn Swinson, EDGE
At pick No. 146, the Patriots selected LSU edge rusher Bradyn Swinson.
In Swinson, New England is getting a player that many in the draft prognostication business had ranked as one of the more elite athletes in all of college football, with The Athletic’s Dane Brugler ranking him as one of his top 100 prospects heading into the weekend.
For the third consecutive pick on day three, the Patriots made good on their Friday promise to bolster the defense after spending their first four picks on offense - one of which being Swinson’s former LSU teammate Will Campbell at No. 4 overall.
He’ll join a pass rushing rotation that’s already been beefed up this offseason, with the Patriots signing former Titans Pro Bowl linebacker Harold Landry to a three-year, $43.5 million deal in March to go along with incumbents on the edge in Anfernee Jennings and Christian Elliss, as well as 2023 second round pick Keion White who has the flexibility to play both inside and out at 6-foot-5 and 285 pounds.
Like White, Swinson sports a massive frame in his own right, measuring in at the combine at 6-foot-4 and 255 pounds. And while he didn’t run the 40-yard dash, he timed in at 4.33 in the 20-yard shuttle and 7.13 in the three-cone drill.
Campbell gets a familiar face in Foxborough, and Vrabel gets deeper on the edge.
Andres Borregales, K
At pick No. 182, the Patriots selected Miami kicker Andres Borregales at the top of the sixth round.
A staple of the Bill Belichick regime, Vrabel uses draft capital on a special teams-only player to fill a need at the kicker position.
After an up-and-down season for kicker Joey Slye last season in New England, he signed with Tennessee during free agency to officially make his 2024 season with the Patriots a one-and-done.
Last training camp, Slye and 2023 fourth round pick Chad Ryland competed for the starting kicker role. Slye ultimately ended up winning that battle, and Ryland was released after only one season in Foxborough.
It turns out a change in scenery is exactly what Ryland needed, as the 25-year-old was named NFC Special Teams Player of the Month in October as an Arizona Cardinal after kicking 3 game-winning field goals and going 8-9 overall.
Unlike Ryland, Patriots fans will hope that Borregales can reach his full potential on his first professional team.
At 5-foot-11 and 199 pounds, the 23-year-old had a decorated career in his four years kicking for the Hurricanes (stats and honors courtesy of NFL.com):
2021: All-ACC Honorable Mention. 45-45 XP; 17-21-81.0 FG, 1-1 50-plus yards, long 55, 1 blocked kick; 37 touchbacks on 82 kickoffs
2022: All-ACC Honorable Mention. 32-32 XP; 17-20-85.0 FG, 0-1 50-plus yards, long 49; 37 touchbacks on 57 kickoffs
2023: First-team All-ACC. 44-45 XP; 22-26-84.6 FG, 4-6 50-plus yards, long 51, 1 blocked; 110 points; 46 touchbacks on 73 kickoffs
2024: First-team All-ACC. Tied for fifth in the FBS making 94.7% of his FG attempts (18-19, 2-2 50-plus yards, long 56). Set school record with 405 points in his career
We’ll see if this type of success can translate from a warm weather environment to the harsh winters in New England.
A native of Venezuela, Borregales will be the second member of his family to be given shot at kicking in the NFL. His brother, Jose, won the 2020 Lou Groza Award as college football’s top kicker while also playing for Miami. He last played in the NFL for the Buccaneers during the 2021 season.
Borregales will compete with 27-year-old journeyman kicker John Parker Romo for the starting job in New England in 2025. Romo joined the organization on the practice squad in December of 2024.
After coming into Saturday with no picks on tap for the sixth round, New England ended up trading back from No. 171 at the end of the fifth round with Detroit to give them their lone pick in round six. In moving down, New England also picked up a second pick in the seventh round (No. 228).
Marcus Bryant, OT
At pick No. 220, the Patriots selected Missouri left tackle Marcus Bryant with their first of three picks in the seventh round.
After significant discussion this spring in the local media about the possibility of New England trading back within the top 10 to select Missouri right tackle Armand Membou - who burst onto the scene with an impressive showing at the combine - they end up selecting his counterpart on the opposite side of the offensive line in the last round of the draft.
At 6-foot-7 and 320 pounds, Bryant is one inch taller than his new counterpart in Campbell.
Outside of the height advantage, Bryant’s got nothing else on Campbell when it comes to their play on the field.
Here’s what NFL.com had say about 22-year-old’s weaknesses:
- Strikes with his hands but doesn’t cinch-up and control defenders
- Tall pad level hinders ability getting to back-side and second-level cut-offs
- Below-average timing getting from one block to the next
- Lacks ideal instincts to recognize twist games in pass protection
- Below-average command with his hands and punch in pass pro
- Needs to eliminate excessive waist-bending and leaning.
He’s got a long way to go, but there’s no reason to quibble with drafting a player at his size for a project player this late in the draft.
Julian Ashby, LS
At pick No. 251, the Patriots selected Vanderbilt long snapper Julian Ashby with their second of three picks in the seventh round.
If you did a double take reading the word “long snapper” - don’t worry, you’re not alone.
Ashby is the first long snapper to be drafted by an NFL team in any round since 2021, when Thomas Fletcher was taken by the Panthers and No. 222 and Camaron Cheeseman (yes, that’s a real name) was taken by the Washington at No. 225.
You know what they say - you can’t miss the run on long snappers!
While NFL Network’s Mike Garafolo reported on X.com that there was going to be a bidding war for Ashby as an undrafted free agent, it doesn’t exactly mean the Patriots should have wasted a pick on the 22-year-old.
Like Borregales in the sixth round, Vrabel and his staff went for yet another special-teams-only player with one of their draft picks - yet another moment of Vrabel harkening back to the years of Belichick running the draft board with mixed results.
Additionally, the Patriots don’t have a need at the position, with 33-year-old Joe Cardona under contract for what would be his 11th season in the league, all of which has been spent in New England. While none of his money for 2025 is guaranteed, the vet is signed through the end of the 2026 season. And at least to the untrained eye, it appeared that Cardona had yet another solid season in 2024 doing what he does on the football field.
“Julian Ashby was a player that we liked,” Wolf told the media on Webex at the conclusion of the seventh round. “We felt like he was the best long snapper in the draft. Through some of the conversations that we had, we felt like he might not be someone that would be available post-draft. Again, wanting to add some competition to the roster, we decided to pull the trigger there late.”
Reading into Wolf’s words, maybe they feel Cardona’s play has slipped, and adding Ashby to the team will have the same type of impact Jimmy Garoppolo’s addition did for Tom Brady.
Yes, I just compared the Patriots’ long snapper to the greatest quarterback of all-time. No, I will not apologize for it.
The Patriots acquired this pick and pick No. 257 (a.k.a. “Mr. Irrelevant) in a trade with Kansas City while the seventh round was already underway. They sent away pick No. 228 to the Chiefs for both these picks in the 250s.
Kobee Minor, DB (“Mr. Irrelevant”)
At pick No. 257, the Patriots selected Memphis defensive back Kobee Minor with their third and final pick of the seventh round.
At 5-foot-11 and 188 pounds, Minor reportedly runs a 4.56 40-yard dash, and has a Relative Athletic Score of 2.93 out of 10, per NBC Sports Boston. In addition to his lone season at Memphis, Minor also had stints at Texas Tech (2020-22) and Indiana (2023). He’s a native of Dallas, and was rated as a consensus three-star recruit coming out of high school.
If all of this sounds very, uh, pedestrian, that’s because it is. He’s the last pick of the draft, it’s not supposed to look all that awesome at this point.
But in the case of Minor being the selection here for New England, it’s more pedestrian than the average “Mr. Irrelevant,” as The Athletic’s Dane Brugler had Minor ranked as his 127th best cornerback in the draft.
So what gives?
“Yeah, Kobee's a guy that our scouts that went into Memphis this year got on early,” said Wolf. “I think to answer your question, he was a double transfer guy. He started his career at Texas Tech and then played one year at Indiana and then actually transferred to Memphis this year. He transferred kind of late, so I don't know that he was necessarily on the radar early in the season for some people. Then he had a hamstring, so he came back from it and played well.
“The movement skills at practice, the ability to play the football in the air, his competitiveness, we brought him in for a pre-draft visit, a 30-visit, and he did a really nice job on that. He was a guy that we had some affinity for. ‘Mr. Irrelevant,’ a pretty cool experience for him, but we were excited to be able to add him.”
Minor will receive the moniker of “Mr. Irrelevant” for the rest of his career, a title unofficially given by fans and media to the final player selected each year at the draft.
Minor becomes the third “Mr. Irrelevant” pick in franchise history, joining Kentucky linebacker Marty Moore from 1994 and William Penn tight end Andy Stokes from 2005.
So there you have it, folks. An NFL draft was had! The Patriots added 11 new players in three days across seven rounds. Many hours of television were watched. It's time to put the screens away for a while and touch some grass.
Stay locked in to WEEI and WEEI.com for all the latest on the Patriots offseason.