Patriots In Unusual Spot With Seven Picks On Day 3 Of 2015 NFL Draft

FOXBORO, Mass. — The Patriots will have plenty of options on the final day of the 2015 NFL Draft after a trade with the Cleveland Browns on Friday allowed New England to acquire an additional selection.

Here’s a look at which selections the Pats own going into the fourth, fifth, sixth and seventh rounds Saturday.

4th round: 101, 111, 131
5th round: 147
6th round: 178, 202
7th round: 253 (compensatory)

“We’re at seven picks for tomorrow,” Patriots head coach Bill Belichick said. “We’re kind of spaced pretty evenly throughout the rounds in the draft. But I think we got a nice opportunity there in terms of flow to be able to sequentially make some picks if we hold on to them. We’ll see how that goes. There are a number of interesting guys that are on the board. We tried to get the picks into that sort of area in the draft, so hopefully we’ll be able to grab some players we like in those spots.”

The Patriots will be one of the first teams to pick Saturday because, at least right now, they have the second pick in the fourth round (101st overall). This selection was acquired from the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the trade that involved tight end Tim Wright and left guard Logan Mankins.

“I think where we were at the start of the day, we had a little bit of spacing there: top of the fourth, bottom of the fourth, no fifth, but top of the sixth, top of the seventh, bottom of the seventh,” Belichick said. “Now we’ve kind of filled in. We have three picks in the fourth round and we’ve kind of filled in that fifth round at 147 or whatever it is. So, that’s seven picks in the rounds remaining, kind of with the spacing they have. It’s nice. It’s a little bit unusual. Normally you pick and wait, pick and wait.

“Here we’ve kind of got, I’d kind of say a little bit of a flow. If we lose a guy, then it’s not too far where we’re probably going to be able to get the next guy versus you lose a guy and then you’re sitting there for 20-something picks, whatever it is, and you’re probably going to lose a couple more guys. I’d say there a number of players that we still feel like can be a positive factor for us. We’ll see how all that plays out. There are guys that at least right now we want to pick. So, hopefully we’ll get some of them.”

The Patriots’ needs heading into Saturday include cornerback, wide receiver and offensive line. Running back also is a position of need following the offseason departures of Stevan Ridley and Shane Vereen. Both players filled key roles in the offense when healthy, particularly Vereen, who was a viable threat in the passing game out of the backfield.

When asked about targeting specific positions Saturday, Belichick said the process won’t change despite the abundance of picks.

“We’ll do what we do on every pick: take a look at the options and do what we think is best.”