The New England Patriots entered the 2023 NFL Draft in possession of the 14th overall selection in the first round. They did not end up making a pick in that spot, however, and instead decided to move out in a trade-down with the Pittsburgh Steelers.
The Patriots went from 14 to 17 while also picking up a fourth-round selection, No. 120 overall. Despite sliding down the board, New England was still able to pick up one of the consensus top talents available this year and add Oregon’s Christian Gonzalez to its cornerback group.
Pittsburgh was not the only team the Patriots were in touch with about moving down in the first round, though. As a new behind-the-scenes video by the Washington Commanders Commanders shows, they also worked the phones with New England.
The Commanders, who also were looking at the cornerback position and had identified Emmanuel Forbes as their main guy, sat at No. 16 — two spots behind the Patriots, and one ahead of he Steelers. As the video shows, general manager Martin Mayhew reached out to New England director of scouting Eliot Wolf to talk about making a trade.
When asked about his team’s price to move down, Wolf started with a third-round pick at No. 97 overall. Mayhew was quick to respond that he would not “think we want to give that up.”
Looking at the trade value charts, it is not surprising he would hold that position; such a move would be quite lopsided in New England’s favor:
Washington then raised the possibility of a fourth-rounder — No. 118 — being involved in the move. The Patriots subsequently offered to send one of their four sixth-round selections back for that initially-mentioned third-round pick, but Washington was unwilling to make that deal and it fell apart.
New England eventually moved out in that aforementioned trade with Pittsburgh, while the Commanders stayed put at No. 16. Despite their apparent fears that the Patriots would snag Forbes — “I don’t think he gets past the Patriots,” team executive Marty Hurney was captured saying — they eventually ended up with Forbes in their original slot.
New England, meanwhile, ran to the podium once it was clear Gonzalez was available; the club needed only around 30 seconds of its allotted 10-minute window to hand the card in. Based on that and the reaction inside Washington’s draft room, it appears both teams ended up happy with the result of their non-trade.
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