The NFL’s 2018 regular season is over and only 12 teams are left standing in the race for the Vince Lombardi Trophy — among them the New England Patriots, who will enter the tournament as the second seed in the AFC. The league’s other 20 clubs, meanwhile, can already start preparing for free agency and the draft.
Speaking of which, we now know the order of the draft’s first 20 picks:
1. Arizona Cardinals (3-13)
2. San Francisco 49ers (4-12)
3. New York Jets (4-12)
4. Oakland Raiders (4-12)
5. Tampa Bay Buccaneers (5-11)
6. New York Giants (5-11)
7. Jacksonville Jaguars (5-11)
8. Detroit Lions (6-10)
9. Buffalo Bills (6-10)
10. Denver Broncos (6-10)
11. Cincinnati Bengals (6-10)
12. Green Bay Packers (6-9-1)
13. Miami Dolphins (7-9)
14. Atlanta Falcons (7-9)
15. Washington Redskins (7-9)
16. Carolina Panthers (7-9)
17. Cleveland Browns (7-8-1)
18. Minnesota Vikings (8-7-1)
19. Tennessee Titans (9-7)
20. Pittsburgh Steelers (9-6-1)
The Arizona Cardinals, who lost a league-worst 13 games this season, hold the first overall pick heading into the draft. It will be interesting to see what the team will do with the selection considering that it already has a franchise quarterback under contract in Josh Rosen but has plenty of holes to fill elsewhere.
From the Patriots’ perspective, the AFC East’s picks are noteworthy. The New York Jets, who were blown out by New England yesterday and let their head coach go shortly afterwards, will select third overall, while the Buffalo Bills and Miami Dolphins come in at slots number 9 and 13, respectively. The Patriots, meanwhile will one again pick in the bottom third — business as usual.