Patriots Are “Open for Business” for Draft Trade
Josh Frey
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If the Minnesota Vikings are going to land one of the top four quarterbacks in the 2024 NFL Draft, they more than likely will need to find a trade partner.
Moving up the board will be no easy task for the Vikings. It will cost them a large package of draft capital, and even then, it’s far from a guarantee that they will land the quarterback that they want. Still, if they want to trade up, it appears that teams will at least listen to offers.
One such team is the New England Patriots, and their de facto GM, Eliot Wolf, claimed that the team is “open for business.”
Patriots Could Still Trade Their Pick
On Thursday, Wolf spoke to reporters regarding a potential trade of the third overall pick amongst other topics.
“We’re open to anything — moving up, moving down,” Wolf said. “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, and 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 kind of recommends it, then we won’t be afraid to pull the trigger on that either.”
New England does enter the draft with a number of needs across their roster, particularly at the wide receiver position. The Patriots added K.J. Osborn in free agency, but that was the only major addition that group.
On top of that, offensive tackle could be a position that is addressed. New England had one of PFF’s worst pass blocking grades during the 2023 season at 50.9, and while they added some depth in Chukwuma Okorafor, the amount of offensive tackle talent in this draft class could be enticing with a trade down.
It is worth noting, though, that Wolf made a point to suggest that he has confidence in the team’s offensive line. “We have a solid offensive line; we re-signed Mike Onwenu, we have David Andrews coming back, we have three rookies that we drafted last year that are developing, we signed Okorafor from the Steelers,” the executive said.
By trading with the Vikings, New England very well could grab players at both positions to solidify their offense around veteran QB Jacoby Brissett before attempting to land a top quarterback next spring.
Ultimately, though, New England very well could decide to just stay put at No. 3 and select a quarterback. There is a decent chance that there won’t be as much quarterback talent in next spring’s draft class, and given the strength of the Patriots’ defense, they might end up picking much further down the board next spring.
Editor’s Note: Statistics for this article were found via Pro Football Focus.
The Vikings Have Two Weeks to Make an Obvious Decision
Josh Frey is a Class of 2020 graduate of The College of Idaho and managing editor of PurplePTSD.com. When he’s not writing about the NFL, Josh enjoys running, gaming, or rooting for the Milwaukee Brewers and Bucks. Check out his Twitter account: @Freyed_Chicken.