For the third time in five years, the Patriots did not make a selection in the first round of the NFL Draft, as they traded away pick No. 23 to the Chargers Thursday night.
In return, the Patriots picked up a second-round pick (No. 37 overall) and a third-round pick (No. 71 overall).
Speaking on a video conference after Round 1, Patriots director of player personnel Nick Caserio explained the move.
"Obviously we made the trade here in the first round," he said. "Certainly, like most situations in year's past, we're always ready to pick. It as a situation where we thought the trade made sense. It puts us in a position to pick at the top of the second round tomorrow and then four thirds. We still have some picks there at the end with the two fourths, four sixths and one seventh, so we will see how it all works out here tomorrow. I am sure we will be adding tomorrow. At some point we will end up picking a player, or two, or three, like who knows how it goes. But, we have some flexibility going into tomorrow. We will recalibrate where we are, what is left and take a look at some of the different players."
Added Caserio: "You always have to be prepared to pick and we certainly were ready to pick. We had a handful of players we had that we were discussing. Then the opportunity came up with the Chargers that we thought made sense.
"... In the end, it worked itself out. The Chargers put themselves in position to do what they wanted to do. We thought it made sense. We could've really easily gone the other way and picked a player. I don't think what happened in front of us necessarily dictated what we ultimately did."
The Chargers ended up by selecting Oklahoma linebacker Kenneth Murray, who had been mocked by a lot of people to the Patriots, with the No. 23 overall pick.
Following the trade, New England now has five selections on Day 2, including four from picks Nos. 71-100.
