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When the New England Patriots were on the clock at No. 14 overall in the first round of the NFL Draft, they decide to make a trade. The Pittsburgh Steelers offered two picks in return, and down Bill Belichick and company went.
The move paid off for them. Not only were they still able to grab cornerback Christian Gonzalez at No. 17 — one of the most talented players in this year’s draft and surprise slider — they also added a fourth-round selection as part of that move. With selection No. 120 in the fold, the team now enters Day 2 of the draft as the owners of 11 picks.
The Patriots are therefore tied for most selections in the league at this point.
- Round 2: No. 46
- Round 3: No. 76 (via Carolina)
- Round 4: No. 107 (via Los Angeles)
- Round 4: No. 117
- Round 4: No. 120 (via Pittsburgh)
- Round 4: No. 135 (compensatory)
- Round 6: No. 184 (via Las Vegas)
- Round 6: No. 187 (via Carolina)
- Round 6: No. 192
- Round 6: No. 210 (compensatory)
- Round 7: No. 245
Of course, as you probably know, quantity does not equal quality. The Patriots’ capital, for example, is largely made out of Day 3 picks — four each in the fourth and sixth rounds. Nonetheless, those assets can be used to manipulate the board, and New England doing just that on Friday night would not be a surprise.
For starters, their current portfolio ranks among the most valuable in the NFL as a look at five different valuation charts shows:
NFL Draft 2023: Team capital
| Team | Hill | Stuart | Johnson | OTC | PFF | Rank Avg |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team | Hill | Stuart | Johnson | OTC | PFF | Rank Avg |
| Detroit Lions | 436.04 (1) | 40.5 (2) | 1445 (1) | 4464 (5) | 1.715 (1) | 1.8 |
| Chicago Bears | 352.48 (5) | 40.8 (1) | 1134 (5) | 4560 (3) | 1.683 (3) | 3.4 |
| Las Vegas Raiders | 338.68 (7) | 38.1 (4) | 1047 (7) | 4679 (1) | 1.696 (2) | 4.2 |
| Green Bay Packers | 378.50 (2) | 35.7 (7) | 1233 (2) | 4234 (6) | 1.634 (6) | 4.6 |
| Seattle Seahawks | 373.05 (3) | 37.6 (5) | 1207 (3) | 4198 (7) | 1.577 (7) | 5.0 |
| Los Angeles Rams | 338.91 (6) | 35.9 (6) | 1111 (6) | 4481 (4) | 1.646 (4) | 5.2 |
| New England Patriots | 304.34 (9) | 38.2 (3) | 940 (9) | 4647 (2) | 1.641 (5) | 5.6 |
| Arizona Cardinals | 323.85 (8) | 32.1 (8) | 1030 (8) | 3490 (11) | 1.300 (11) | 9.2 |
| Indianapolis Colts | 294.56 (10) | 31.0 (10) | 915 (10) | 3654 (10) | 1.351 (10) | 10.0 |
| Pittsburgh Steelers | 361.19 (4) | 29.0 (12) | 1190 (4) | 3020 (18) | 1.230 (12) | 10.0 |
| Jacksonville Jaguars | 231.76 (16) | 31.7 (9) | 692 (16) | 4115 (8) | 1.439 (8) | 11.4 |
| Houston Texans | 233.41 (14) | 30.4 (11) | 724 (15) | 3831 (9) | 1.361 (9) | 11.6 |
| New Orleans Saints | 268.23 (11) | 28.0 (14) | 857 (11) | 3221 (15) | 1.210 (13) | 12.8 |
| Atlanta Falcons | 257.49 (12) | 26.9 (16) | 819 (12) | 3067 (17) | 1.128 (17) | 14.8 |
| Carolina Panthers | 252.81 (13) | 27.8 (15) | 778 (13) | 2998 (19) | 1.096 (19) | 15.8 |
| Tampa Bay Buccaneers | 204.09 (18) | 24.6 (18) | 683 (17) | 3089 (16) | 1.121 (18) | 17.4 |
| Cleveland Browns | 185.89 (22) | 28.3 (13) | 532 (27) | 3456 (12) | 1.177 (14) | 17.6 |
| Kansas City Chiefs | 180.98 (23) | 25.1 (17) | 535 (25) | 3243 (14) | 1.154 (16) | 19.0 |
| Washington Commanders | 208.14 (17) | 24.0 (20) | 650 (18) | 2943 (20) | 1.063 (20) | 19.0 |
| Tennessee Titans | 232.46 (15) | 22.5 (23) | 770 (14) | 2553 (24) | 0.966 (22) | 19.6 |
| Denver Broncos | 197.21 (19) | 24.5 (19) | 633 (19) | 2722 (21) | 0.964 (23) | 20.2 |
| Los Angeles Chargers | 190.29 (20) | 22.7 (21) | 612 (20) | 2683 (22) | 0.968 (21) | 20.8 |
| San Francisco 49ers | 141.80 (30) | 22.6 (22) | 377 (30) | 3249 (13) | 1.157 (15) | 22.0 |
| New York Giants | 174.10 (24) | 21.0 (24) | 550 (23) | 2619 (23) | 0.963 (24) | 23.6 |
| New York Jets | 187.18 (21) | 20.1 (27) | 598 (21) | 2216 (27) | 0.818 (27) | 24.6 |
| Dallas Cowboys | 169.31 (25) | 20.7 (26) | 534 (26) | 2516 (25) | 0.908 (25) | 25.4 |
| Cincinnati Bengals | 163.25 (28) | 20.8 (25) | 508 (28) | 2509 (26) | 0.902 (26) | 26.6 |
| Miami Dolphins | 169.15 (26) | 17.0 (29) | 573 (22) | 1932 (29) | 0.728 (29) | 27.0 |
| Philadelphia Eagles | 164.12 (27) | 16.5 (30) | 548 (24) | 1880 (30) | 0.719 (30) | 28.2 |
| Buffalo Bills | 154.10 (29) | 18.5 (28) | 493 (29) | 2084 (28) | 0.749 (28) | 28.4 |
| Baltimore Ravens | 84.33 (32) | 13.4 (31) | 249 (31) | 1666 (31) | 0.560 (31) | 31.2 |
| Minnesota Vikings | 84.59 (31) | 13.3 (32) | 246 (32) | 1647 (32) | 0.555 (32) | 31.8 |
There is some variance to the Patriots’ ranking. They are second on the Over The Cap chart, third on the Chase Stewart Chart, and fifth on the Pro Football Focus chart. However, both the Rich Hill and Jimmy Johnson charts only have them ranked ninth.
Nonetheless, they do have some tools to play with — and play they most certainly will. They nearly did on Thursday, already: according to a report by ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler, they explored possibly moving back into the first round. While nothing transpired, the team taking an aggressive approach makes sense.
Spending all 11 selections over the final six rounds of the draft seems unlikely. New England has 75 players on its roster already, and adding 11 more draft picks on top of Christian Gonzalez would be quite a bit.
Packaging some of the picks, especially those in Round 4, might allow the Patriots to jump ahead and address some of the non-cornerback needs on their roster. Offensive tackle, wide receiver, defensive edge, tight end or safety are all possible targets, and there are still plenty of good players on the board.
The Patriots have the capital and the willingness to be active on Friday. Expect them to make something happen.
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