Going into the NFL Draft, the Patriots have 12 selections overall, including nine in Rounds 3-6.
It's likely Bill Belichick and Co. will package a few of those selections to potentially move up in the draft, maybe into Round 2 where they do not have a selection, but another alternative is trading picks for next year, which the organization also done in the past.
Speaking on a conference call Thursday, NFL Media's Daniel Jeremiah is on board with that idea.
"I would just say that the one thing I would be confident in is they have a bunch of extra picks like in the third and the fifth and the sixth rounds I should say, and I'd be very confident they will spin off some of this excess for picks next year because they seem to do that on a yearly basis," he said. "But in terms of what direction they'll go with players, yeah, to say they keep things close to the vest would be an understatement."
For example, the Patriots could trade one or two of their sixth-round selections for a 2021 fifth. Small moves like this are ways Belichick has done a good job over the years when it comes to getting the most out of drafts, particularly in the later rounds.
Relating to this year and the potential for no spring workouts, etc., it may be more difficult for rookies to get caught up to speed. Therefore, it could be a good option to push some of these picks to 2021 when there likely will be a normal offseason.
Here's a rundown of all the Patriots' picks.
Round 1- No. 23 overallRound 3- No. 87 overallRound 3- No. 98 overallRound 3- No. 100 overallRound 4- No. 125 overallRound 5- No. 172 overallRound 6- No. 195 overallRound 6- No. 204 overallRound 6- No. 212 overallRound 6- No. 213 overallRound 7- No. 230 overallRound 7- No. 241 overall
