The New England Patriots will have two bonus draft picks in the 2015 NFL draft.
The Patriots received third- and seventh-round compensatory draft picks on Monday night at the NFL Annual Meeting, the league announced. The Patriots were given the third-round pick for losing cornerback Aqib Talib to the Denver Broncos in last year’s free agency. The seventh-round pick came from losing linebacker Dane Fletcher to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Signing cornerback Brandon Browner and wide receiver Brandon LaFell canceled out losing linebacker Brandon Spikes and running back LeGarrette Blount, who re-signed with the Patriots after being cut by the Pittsburgh Steelers. Cornerback Darrelle Revis was cut by the Buccaneers in March 2014, so he didn’t count against the compensatory picks.
The Patriots now have one pick each in the first, second and sixth rounds of the draft. They have two picks each in the third, fourth and seventh rounds and no pick in the fifth round. They have five draft picks in the top 100, since one of their fourth-round draft picks came from the Buccaneers in a trade.
NFL teams cannot trade compensatory draft picks.
Here are all of the Patriots’ draft picks:
First round, pick No. 32
Second round, No. 64
Third round, No. 96
Third round, No. 97 (compensatory)
Fourth round, No. 101
Fourth round, No. 131
Sixth round, No. 177
Seventh round, No. 219
Seventh round, No. 253
Thumbnail photo via Steven Senne/Associated Press
