New England Patriots links 4/20/17 - 2017 NFL Draft: Patriots on the edge

TEAM TALK

• Erik Scalavino details the Patriots championship trip to the White House.
• Gil Santos' top 10 calls, in honor of his birthday.
• PFW Draft Prospect Rankings: Wide Receivers.
• PFW projects the Patriots picks in the third round.
• Super Bowl LI Champs visit White House. (16.19 min. video)
• From NFL Network - Kimberly Jones has the latest on the Patriots visit to the White House. (2.16 min. video)

LOCAL LINKS

• Mike Reiss spotlights the Patriots decisiveness that stands out to him, after the flurry of activity on Tuesday.
• Zack Cox details James White's new contract ($12M base, $4.69M guaranteed. $15M is the max) which highlights the Patriots' surprising running back trend.
• Ryan Hannable sees signs from the Patriots' draft preparations that suggest Malcolm Butler will be traded.
• Evan Lazar points out how the Patriots have a knack for finding the right undrafted players.
• Mike Reiss describes how Malcolm Mitchell said he got choked up when President Donald Trump singled him out for his poise in Super Bowl LI.
• Jacoby Brissett (Instagram) "Dear Big O..."
• Bill Speros offers his take on Rob Gronkowski lightening up the mood on a gray day as the Patriots were honored by President Trump at the White House yesterday.
• Mike Reiss notes Tom Brady didn't make the trip for family reasons but 34 other players were honored at the White House.
• Hayden Bird notes fellow "wolf pack" members Jimmy Garoppolo and Jacoby Brissett left room in their picture to photoshop missing Tom Brady into their White House photo.
• Steve Buckley was disappointed Bill Belichick wanted the White House visit to be about the players who were there, and didn't make players available to the media who had played with Aaron Hernandez.
• Jeff Howe posts the transcript of yesterday's White House ceremony.
• Kevin Dillon finds the New England Patriots Twitter account defended the President after the NY Times mocked the photo.  Update: Colin Campbell issues apology, correction.
  
• Henry McKenna (PatriotsWire) Devin McCourty used his newborn daughter to convince Dont'a Hightower to return to Patriots.
• Phil Perry profiles prototypical Patriots: Defensive ends.
• Mike Reiss focuses on positions of need to ID players in the draft who could help the Patriots in the third round and beyond: Cornerbacks.
• Doug Kyed profiles some cornerbacks who fit the Patriots' typical draft standards at the position.
• Kevin Dillon uses his ESPN Insider access to tell us Mel Kiper Jr.'s picks for the Pats in the 3rd-round: Auburn DE Carl Lawson at No. 72, and Alabama OLB Ryan Anderson at No. 96.

NATIONAL NEWS

• Around the NFL (NFL.com) Trump: Patriots' Super Bowl LI win was 'legendary'.
• Photo Galllery (NFL.com) The Patriots visit the White House.
• Andy Benoit and Emily Kaplan (The MMQB) Every NFL team's biggest draft need. Patriots: Edge rusher.
• Mary Kay Cabot (Cleveland.como) Jimmy Garoppolo and AJ McCarron could be off table for Browns as club says it won't trade for veteran QB.
• Michael David Smith (ProFootballTalk) Report: Malcolm Butler will skip Patriots’ voluntary workouts.
• Around the NFL (NFL.com) NFL to release '17 regular-season schedule Thursday.
• Albert Breer (The MMQB) Game plan: Aaron Hernandez saga won't affect how NFL sees players; Andrew Luck's surgery; Draft happenings; More.
• Pete Prisco (CBS Sports) Ranking every NFL head coach, from Bill Belichick to the Class of 2017.
• Ryan McCrystal (Bleacher Report) NFL Draft 2017: Reviewing every team's trade prospects, ammunition.
• Chris Wesseling (NFL.com) Ten players who could be traded before draft ends. Malcolm Butler and Jimmy Garoppolo included.
• Cameron DaSilva (Fox Sports) The simple reason there will be fewer trades during the 2017 NFL Draft.
• Connor Howe (SB Nation) Best active player selected from all 7 rounds of NFL Draft.
• Andrew Bucholtz (Awful Announcing) Phil Simms finds soft landing at The NFL Today, but timing shows this is a downgrade.
• Josh Alper (ProFootballTalk) Buccaneers officially named 2017’s Hard Knocks team.
• Dieter Kurtenbach (Fox Sports) NFL Mock Draft 2017: Seven-round projection.

DUMPSTER DIVE

• Michael McCann (SI) Aaron Hernandez's suicide leaves legal loose ends from his final years.
• Ron Borges writes that 'we'll never know is all we'll ever know' of Aaron Hernandez.
• CBS Boston passes along the WBZ I-Team report that learned Aaron Hernandez had Bible verse John 3:16 written on his forehead and may have smoked synthetic marijuana before death.