It wouldn’t be at all surprising if the Patriots didn’t make a pick at No. 21 overall Thursday night. Bill Belichick would be acting very on-brand if he traded down in Round 1 of the 2022 NFL Draft.
But what if New England used its scheduled first-round pick for something much, much bigger?
Mike Florio joined “The Greg Hill Show” on Thursday and explained how the Patriots could use their top asset in this year’s draft in an effort to acquire the arguably best player available in the NFL, Deebo Samuel.
“I’d give up the 21st overall pick in a heartbeat to get Deebo Samuel,” Florio said, as transcribed by WEEI. “These are just lottery tickets. We don’t know when you scratch them off what they’re going to be. You know what you’re getting in Deebo Samuel, and he’s got the kind of versatility that I think Bill Belichick craves. He’s hard-nosed, he loves football, he plays hard. I think he checks every box that Bill Belichick would want him to check.”
Of course, it would take more than the 21st overall pick to pry Samuel away from the 49ers. An anonymous NFL general manager recently told Sports Illustrated’s Albert Breer that San Francisco would want two first-rounders in exchange for the 2021 first-team All-Pro. The Patriots probably could package several other picks instead of a second first-round selection, but either way, it would take a haul to land Samuel.
And acquiring Samuel only would be half the battle for New England or any other interested team. The 36th pick in 2019 is set to enter the final year of his contract and has positioned himself to land a massive long-term deal. It would be very out of character for Belichick and company to commit that kind of money to one player.
Would Samuel be a great fit in Foxboro? Most likely. But given the logistics surrounding his situation, it feels unlikely he’ll end up with the Patriots.
