It’s often about who you know rather than what you know.
Colin Cowherd seems to believe this adage could manifest in the Patriots’ favor Thursday night.
New England enters the 2020 NFL Draft as one of the top teams to watch. A void remains at the quarterback position in wake of Tom Brady’s departure, and many have wondered whether the Patriots will try to move up from No. 23 in the draft to select their next franchise signal-caller.
Not only does New England have the assets — 22 total picks in the 2020 and 2021 drafts — but Bill Belichick also has strong connections with a few teams picking in the top half of the first round.
Cowherd broke them down Wednesday on FS1’s “The Herd.”
“The No. 3 team is Detroit, the GM and the coach are former Patriots,” Cowherd said. “They could sure use six picks. New England’s got 12. Belichick drafted Kliff Kingsbury, Arizona’s got the eighth pick — relationship. Belichick called the Jags owner and recommended Doug Marrone be the head coach. Jags have the ninth pick. San Francisco, Belichick, Mike Shanahan — a lot of respect. They already worked a deal. Belichick did the Niners a solid, they have two first-round picks. Think about this: The teams in this draft, the coach at the No. 3 team, No. 4 team and No. 5 team are former Patriots. They got all sorts of draft capital and all sorts of relationships.”
"New England is shredding talent and not replacing them… Bill Belichick is wildly active on draft days." — @ColinCowherd
Will the Patriots trade up for a QB tomorrow? pic.twitter.com/8P1tPGyWR9
— Herd w/Colin Cowherd (@TheHerd) April 22, 2020
It sounds like trades could be aplenty in the first round of the draft. The Washington Redskins reportedly have a “complete” offer on the table for the No. 2 pick, while it’s been reported for some time now that the Lions are open to dealing No. 3. The Miami Dolphins, meanwhile, reportedly are looking into moving up from the fifth overall pick with a specific reason in mind.
The draft kicks off at 8 p.m. ET on Thursday and runs through Saturday.
