The New England Patriots helped stop D.K. Metcalf’s interminable draft slide Friday night.
The Patriots traded the final pick of the second round (No. 64 overall) to the Seattle Seahawks for a third-round selection (No. 77) and a fourth-rounder (No. 118). The Seahawks, in turn, nabbed Metcalf, whom many draft analysts had projected as a mid-first-round pick.
Metcalf wound up being the ninth wide receiver off the board. Just two went in the first round: Oklahoma’s Marquise Brown to the Baltimore Ravens at No. 25, and Arizona State’s N’Keal Harry to the Patriots at No. 32.
New England then traded up 11 spots in the second round to select Vanderbilt cornerback Joejuan Williams at No. 45. The Patriots sent the 56th and 101st selections to the Los Angeles Rams in that swap.
Minutes later, the Patriots moved pick No. 73 and a sixth-rounder (No. 205) to the Chicago Bears for a third-rounder (No. 87), a fifth-rounder (No. 162) and a 2020 fourth-rounder.