Coin flip will decide if Patriots receive 41st or 42nd overall pick in 2018 NFL Draft from 49ers for Jimmy Garoppolo trade

The New England Patriots will receive the 41st or 42nd overall pick in the 2018 NFL Draft from the San Francisco 49ers as compensation for the mid-season trade of quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo.

The 49ers and Oakland Raiders finished the year with matching 6-10 records and identical strength of schedules, and since they don’t qualify for divisional or conference tiebreakers, their draft order will be determined by a coin flip.

At the time of the trade, the 49ers were projected to select 34th or 35th, but Garoppolo won all of his starts for San Francisco and hurt the team’s draft position. I’m still surprised the Patriots didn’t add in a conditional pick that would increase based on Garoppolo’s performance.

The Patriots will still be able to add a great player at this stage of the draft, but there’s added value for picking at the top of the second day of the draft.