With the top 33 picks in the upcoming NFL draft, the Patriots and Bill Belichick have nothing but options as far as moving up or down in the draft is concerned. It’s no secret that the mastermind would pounce on any opportunity to improve the team’s options.
According to WEEI, Belichick spoke with Pat Kirwin and Jim Miller on Sirius XM/NFL Radio on Monday night, admitting that other teams want the Pats’ picks, and that he’s willing to wheel and deal.
“We’ve definitely been contacted by teams below us offering to move back, and by teams behind us looking to move up,” Belichick said. “There definitely seems to be a lot of interest in our draft picks. And as you know, we’re not afraid to trade them.
“And we’re sitting there at No. 28 in the first round as well, so we kind of have two picks there pretty close to each other. It’s one of two spots that somebody could move into instead of just one. One way or another, teams will have to, if they want to deal, I think we’ll be one of the teams that they’ll want to talk to.”
Belichick, however, stressed that the players taken with the picks — not the picks themselves — are what really matters.
“But there’s plenty of good players on the board and as you know, you can’t take those draft picks and throw them at your opponents. You’ve got to actually take a player and the player’s got to go out there and help you win, so sooner or later, you’ve got to convert those into productive players, and that’s really our goal for next weekend is to take those three days and improve our football team and get better football players on the team, so hopefully, we’ll be able to do that.”
