Notes and thoughts on the Patriots’ draft position, their new O-line coach, offsesaon workouts, and more.
With the NFL Draft less than two weeks away, the entire league is entering crunch time. Draft boards need to be finalized, targets identified, and trade talk intensified. Even though actual news are relatively sparse at this time in the league calendar, there is still a lot going on behind the scenes leading up to the big event.
Naturally, our focus this week has been on the draft first and foremost. To clean out the notebook from that and other stories that have emerged, please enjoy the latest edition of our Sunday Patriots Notes.
Trading down from No. 4 easier said than done
Owners of the fourth overall selection in the draft, the Patriots are in a good position to add some much-needed talent to their roster. With the chances of blue-chip prospects Travis Hunter and Abdul Carter falling to them not looking particularly good at the moment, however, they might actually be more interested in trading the pick rather than making a selection.
There are several factors playing into such a decision, starting first and foremost with the players on the board. Are Will Campbell, or Armand Membou, or Jalen Walker, or Mason Graham, or Tetairoa McMillan really worth pick No. 4? If the Patriots do not think so, a trade appears to be a realistic option.
“If somebody has an offer for us, I think we’d be willing to listen,” said head coach Mike Vrabel recently.
However, it takes two to tango. And while trading down from No. 4 might be a good idea in theory, the reality of such a move might not be quite as attractive. For starters, the obvious question becomes who to trade with. These are either teams very high on certain prospects and/or looking for an opportunity to jump a potential run on consensus QB2, Shedeur Sanders.
In the latter case, which is easier identifiable than the first, three potential trade partners stand out. The Las Vegas Raiders at No. 6, the New York Jets at No. 7, and the New Orleans Saints at No. 9. All three are in the market for QB help, and having the Patriots as willing sellers might prompt them to give up assets to move up the board.
What such a trade would look like is anybody’s guess, because there is not a lot of precedent to work from: since the introduction of the salary cap era in 1994, the pick has been involved in a draft day trade down only two times:
- 2003: Chicago Bears trade 1-4 to New York Jets for 1-13, 1-22, and 4-116
- 2014: Cleveland Browns trade 1-4 to Buffalo Bills for 1-9, 4-115, plus a 2015 1st
That second package seems like the best blueprint given that neither the Raiders, Jets nor Saints, nor any other team, currently owns more than one first-round pick in this year’s draft. For the Patriots, adding an extra first-rounder next year from teams set to play with a rookie quarterback might have some appeal: that pick very well could come early in 2026, increasing New England’s portfolio next year by quite a bit.
At the end of the day, though, it all comes back to the prospects and how teams evaluate them. If the Patriots think one of Campbell, Membou, Walker, Graham, McMillan, etc. is worth the fourth pick, they won’t move. Likewise, if the Raiders, Jets or Saints do not believe in Sanders being a player worth moving up for, they won’t move either.
What all of this shows is that there are plenty of factors involved in such a decision, and that willingness to trade might not necessarily result in a trade actually happening.
Patriots work out kicking prospect
While 30 visits grab most of the headlines this close to the draft, there are other pre-draft meetings taking place as well. One of those happened recently involving a position that is a bit of an under-the-radar need relative to the big ones such as left tackle, wide receiver or defensive edge: place kicker.
According to an interview with the Draft Network, Florida State kicker Ryan Fitzgerald had a private workout with the Patriots.
“I’ve had a few team interviews. I just had my first private workout with the New England Patriots, and I have more of them in the works with the Washington Commanders and Baltimore Ravens,” he said. “I’ve been excited to show these teams what I can do. We’ll see what comes of it.”
A projected late-round pick, Fitzgerald made 94.1 percent of his field goals over the last two seasons. He also was a perfect 72-of-72 on extra points over that span. With New England expected to add some competition to a group currently consisting only of John Parker Romo, Fitzgerald looks like a potential target — one the team has shown some interest in.
Offseason workouts about establishing culture
The Patriots returned to Gillette Stadium on Monday, kicking off the voluntary portion of their offseason workout program. The focus lies on strength and conditioning at this point in the process, but as free agency signing Garrett Bradbury pointed out there is more to be gained.
“A lot has been culture so far. It’s establishing a standard, an expectation. And we can take it a little slower. We’re not diving into the plays. We’re talking terminology, verbiage, expectations,” the veteran center said.
“We’ll get into the nitty-gritty details of it later, but right now it’s just trying to learn everything from the base up. We have plenty of meeting time over the next couple of months.”
For Bradbury, one important part of the offseason workouts — a though that was later also mentioned by tight end Hunter Henry — is building camaraderie with his teammates. After six years with the Minnesota Vikings, he knows only a handful of the players and coaches he will be working with in 2025.
“That’s what these months are for: it’s building camaraderie, building connections, being on the golf course, going bowling, going to a movie, getting dinner,” he explained. “That stuff actually goes a long way because it’s a long season, there’s ups and downs. If you feel like you’re in it by yourself, it’s going to be an even longer season.”
Garrett Bradbury already a fan of Doug Marrone
Speaking of Bradbury, he also touched on his new position coaches during his media availability on Thursday. Doug Marrone, who was hired by new Patriots head coach Mike Vrabel this offseason, will work with the offensive line this year alongside assistants Robert Kugler and Jason Houghtaling.
“I love former players as coaches. So, he played in this league for a while, he’s coached in this league forever,” Bradbury said. “From my perspective they have a different understanding. The coach speak, they can sometimes be, like, ‘Listen, I know I’m telling you to do this, but you have to get it done this way, this way or this way.’ He’s another guy where it’s a new system for him and he spent the last couple months learning it. He’s had a million systems. So, he can kind of understand how he wants to install it to us.
“He likes interactive meetings, which I love. There’s quizzes thrown out. There’s, ‘Hey, what do you have on this? What do you have on this?’ And, we have two assistants in the O-line room. That’s new to me, which is awesome because you have three guys that will know the system like the back of their hands if I have questions, anything I need to know, bounce ideas off them.”
Marcus Jones focused on defense first
Cornerback/wide receiver hybrid Travis Hunter is one of the biggest names in football right now, and a unique prospect entering this year’s draft. However, the Patriots have their own version of Hunter on their roster already: 2022 third-round pick Marcus Jones, who has played in all three phases of the game as well.
Will more of that be in the cards for Jones in 2025? That remains to be seen, but as he said this week, his focus is first and foremost on defense.
“Same question every single time,” he said. “If it happens, it happens, but my main thing is to learn the new defense and then kind of go from there.”
Jones’ offensive usage has fluctuated over the course of his three-year NFL career so far: he played 18 snaps as a wide receiver/running back/decoy as a rookie, followed by one in 2023 and five in 2024. In total, he has touched the ball five times for 83 yards and a touchdown.
Recovering Patriots present for offseason workouts
Marcus Jones was one of 12 Patriots players to end the 2024 season on an injury-related reserve list. Of those 12, eight remain with the team; of those eight, six are confirmed attendees at voluntary workouts: besides Jones that list includes defensive tackle Christian Barmore, center Ben Brown, wide receivers Ja’Lynn Polk and JaQuae Jackson and safety Jabrill Peppers.
The only players not spotted from that group are center Jake Andrews and defensive tackle Jaquelin Roy. That does not mean they are not present, though, only that said presence has yet to be confirmed. We are leaning toward “in” when it comes to them being part of the mix as well.
Hunter Henry happy to see Austin Hooper back
Arguably the Patriots’ most important free agent this offseason, veteran tight end Austin Hooper was retained on a one-year, $5 million contract before free agency. The move allows the team to have some stability at the position heading into 2025, and to keep its starting duo intact — something the other half of it, Hunter Henry, is quite happy about.
“I love Hoop,” he said this week. “Really enjoyed my time in the room with him, on the field. We communicate really well and we’re from the same draft class, same age. We’ve known each other for so long, to actually play with each other last year was such a joy. Excited to be able to build upon that next year.”
Henry led the Patriots in receptions (66), receiving yards (674) and ranked fourth in touchdowns (2) a year ago. Hooper, meanwhile, was a vital part of the team’s passing attack as well, finishing his first season in New England with a 45-476-3 stat-line.
Lack of experience stands out in QB room
Following their trade of Joe Milton to the Dallas Cowboys, the Patriots are in the market for a late-round addition to bolster their quarterback room. While such a pick would help address the issue of depth, it would not address the issue of experience: even with veteran Joshua Dobbs signed in free agency, the Patriots’ current QB group ranks as the fourth-least experienced in terms of in-game pass attempts.
Only the Minnesota Vikings’ (168), Pittsburgh Steelers’ (824) and Denver Broncos’ (865) quarterbacks have thrown fewer passes in the league than Drake Maye’s and Joshua Dobbs’ 887, according to research by drafthistory.com.
Hall of Fame decision should be quite easy
The Patriots announced their finalists for induction into the team Hall of Fame this week, with wide receiver Julian Edelman, guard Logan Mankins and kicker Adam Vinatieri fighting for fans’ votes until later this month. Time will tell who emerges as the victor, but from this perspective there should be one easy-to-spot favorite: Adam Vinatieri, who kicked game-winning field goals in the Patriots’ first two Super Bowl wins, and helped set up the dynasty with an improbable 45-yarder in the 2001 divisional round against the Raiders.
Vinatieri was denied first-ballot induction into the Pro Football Hall of Fame earlier this year. The same should not happen with the Patriots’ version.
Setting up the week ahead
In a way, it is the quiet before the storm. The final week before the NFL Draft will see the Patriots fine-tune their draft board and bring prospects in for visits. Among them is Penn State edge Abdul Carter, who will be in Foxborough on Monday.
Additionally, the players already on the team are entering the second week of voluntary offseason workouts.