Locked On Patriots - Daily Podcast On The New England Patriots - Could New England Patriots Trade For A HUGE Piece At NFL Draft?

Starting point is 00:00:00 A trade target that would fundamentally change the Patriots draft. That's where we start on this episode of Locked On Patriots. You are Locked On Patriots. Your daily New England Patriots podcast. Part of the Locked On Podcast Network. Your team every day. What's up, Patriots fans. I'm your host, Nick Cattles, born and raised in New England.

Starting point is 00:00:29 Your New England Patriots expert, host of the Everything Pats podcast, cohost of the Greg Bedard Patriots podcast with Nick Cattles and also a sports talk show host veteran. On today's episode, free agency could end up opening the door to a draft night trade and the latest three round a draft night trade and the latest three round mock draft from two of the best but first there could be a way for the Pats to have their cake and eat it too on Thursday night we appreciate you joining the show making us your first listen and for being an

Starting point is 00:00:58 everydayer the Lockdown Patriots podcast is a proud partner of the Lockdown podcast network your team every day check out the Lockdown Podcast Network, your team every day. Check out the Lockdown NFL mock draft, by the way, that episode was released yesterday. There's an unhappy established left tackle and the Patriots should 100% be on the phone ready to pounce. Here's the latest from Deshaun Reed of The Athletic, writing about left tackle Colton Miller. Miller has not reported to the Raiders' voluntary offseason program as he seeks a contract extension according to a team source. Miller is going into the final year of a three-year contract extension he signed in 2021.

Starting point is 00:01:39 ESPN's Jeremy Fowler posted, Las Vegas has not engaged in contract talks with Miller. So Las Vegas has not even had conversations with Colton Miller about a contract extension as Miller is walking into the final season of his current contract. That's an issue. And it has Miller unhappy. And an unhappy left tackle who was established is good news for the Patriots if There's any left tackles out there that could possibly be traded for before this draft That's good news for the Patriots because it gives them an opportunity Miller don't get it twisted He's bona fide if you look at last season get off to a slow start

Starting point is 00:02:22 Was much better over the final two months of the season and Pro Football Focus had Miller ranked as their 14th best tackle in football. You're talking right and left side. He was a top 15 tackle last year. Colton Miller allowed only two sacks after Vegas' week 10 by. He shut guys down. He shut pass rushers down. He got better and better in the run game as the season went on.

Starting point is 00:02:52 You want to talk about bona fide credentials, Miller has bona fide credentials. There's no projection needed for Colton Miller. We can talk about any player in this draft. Will Campbell, Kelvin Banks, Josh Simmons, Ariante Ursary, anybody that you want to have a conversation about that's going to be drafted next week, there's projection. You don't know if any of them are going to work out. They might all work out. Will Campbell might end up being a stud left tackle.

Starting point is 00:03:21 He might end up being a stud left guard. Kelvin Banks might never do anything in the NFL. We have no idea. a stud left tackle, he might end up being a stud left guard. Kelvin Banks might never do anything in the NFL. We have no idea. Josh Simmons with his knee. You have no idea, no clue what he's going to be at the NFL level. Colton Miller, no projection needed. You know exactly who he is.

Starting point is 00:03:40 And who he is is a top 15 tackle in the game of football, according to Pro Football Focus. That's good enough for me. If the Raiders are open to a trade, inevitably the question is, what is the price going to be? We could sit here and dream of all sorts of guys in the league that you wanna trade for. You want that guy, you want this guy,

Starting point is 00:04:04 but is that guy or this guy actually available. Are the raiders really going to trade colton miller. Would they even entertain the idea. Or is this just contractual games being played by the franchise while they know that he's a franchise left tackle and they don't want to get rid of him in any kind of way. tackle and they don't want to get rid of him in any kind of way. It certainly seems like they're pushing the envelope a little bit with Miller to the point where he's unhappy. He knows he's walking into the final year of his contract. They know he's walking into the final year of his contract and

Starting point is 00:04:37 he's wondering why we haven't had any conversations. What's going on? So what would the price be? I would imagine the Patriots would start with the third round pick. You're looking at pick 69. I think that's where you start because the Patriots, if Miller became available, the Patriots could tell the Raiders, look we like Colton Miller, but he's going to be 30 years old in October. We start there. He's going to be 30 years

Starting point is 00:05:04 old beyond the fact that he's going to be 30 in old in October. We start there. He's going to be 30 years old. Beyond the fact that he's going to be 30 in October, which isn't as big of a deal as if we were talking about a skill position player, because there are plenty of offensive linemen that age just fine. But the Patriots could push back if the Raiders are asking for too much in their estimation

Starting point is 00:05:20 and say, he's going to be 30 in October, and we're gonna have to pay him a contract, because that's your entire beef. If you want a reasonable offer, you have to understand that we trade for that guy. We also have to pay him a ton of money, because Miller, this is according to Sean Reed again, from the Athletic, Miller is set to make a salary

Starting point is 00:05:44 of a little over 12.2 million this upcoming season, but none of that money is guaranteed. He's not guaranteed a dime his total cash earnings of 12.3 million would rank just 15th among NFL left tackles So if you're trading for Colton Miller you you have to give up a pick, if not multiple picks, and you also have to give him a big fat contract extension. And when you look at his level of play, top 15 tackle, 14th according to Pro Football Focus, he's going to want 20 million, 22 million a year. And this is where the off season impacts the Patriots' plans and how much they would have

Starting point is 00:06:26 to pay somebody like Miller. Because you've got somebody like, you know, Dan Moore out there, and he's making the kind of money that he got from Tennessee. And now Colton Miller can say, well, you know, Dan Moore got like 20 million a year from Tennessee. If Dan Moore's getting 20 million a year, I deserve 22, 23, 24 million a year. I'm better than he is. So you not only would have to trade an asset or assets to bring Miller in, you would also

Starting point is 00:06:59 have to pay him a big fat chunk of money. And you're paying him at the beginning of that contract extension in his aged 31 season. Now maybe the Raiders would push back and say, we're not going to trade this guy for 69th overall. We're not going to trade him for a third round pick. You've got to give us a second. And maybe the Patriots would have to come back and say, we'll give you a second if you

Starting point is 00:07:20 give us a Miller and a fourth. But unequivocally, the Patriots should be on the phone. I'd be surprised if they're not on the phone already. I'd be surprised if they haven't had conversations before this story came out. People in the league talk, agents talk. They have to know that Colton Miller is not happy right now with his contract situation with the Raiders. They know they have a gigantic hole at left tackle.

Starting point is 00:07:45 They know the draft is a week away. Get on the phone. Now the $100 million question is this. How much conviction do the Patriots have in the idea that Will Campbell is a left tackle? If you believe that Will Campbell is a left tackle. If you believe that Will Campbell is a left tackle with every fiber of your being and you have almost zero doubt that Campbell is that guy, if you feel that way, if you believe that, if that's your evaluation, then the Patriots won't

Starting point is 00:08:18 make a trade. Because why would you trade for a left tackle if you feel like Will Campbell is your answer to that biggest problem on your roster? Campbell's only 21 years old. He just turned 21 in January. He won't be 22 until the season is just about over. That's crazy. He's only 21, just old enough to drink a few months ago Now, of course he went to LSU. It's college football player

Starting point is 00:08:51 Probably drank already, right? But you get the point Because if you have conviction if you believe Campbell is that guy With everything in your soul and you're willing to stand up on the table for will Campbell as a left tackle if you feel that way then you're not gonna make this trade because you'd be giving up an asset if not multiple assets and you'd be giving up tens of millions of dollars when you would have the answer staring you right in the face at number four who happens to be 21 years old and is not going to cost you the kind of money that Colton Miller is going to cost you.

Starting point is 00:09:32 So that's the $100 million question. Do the Patriots truly feel like Campbell's a left tackle? They're super confident in that because if so I Doubt they pull the trigger. I am not 100% certain. That's the case. So I'm on the phone Speaking of trades the Pats could have the perfect partner to deal down in round one That's next as we continue with today's episode of locked on Patriots part of the locked on podcast network your team every day Patriots, part of the Locked On Podcast Network, your team every day. Your business requires the right expertise at the right time. With Upwork, you can find specialized freelancers in marketing, development, design, and more experts ready to help you take your business to the next level.

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Starting point is 00:11:11 You notice something, there's been zero talk about Mason Graham over the past few weeks. Early in this process, everybody was talking about Mason Graham. Mason Graham could be the guy. Mason Graham could be the pick at number four. Before free agency, Mason Graham this, Mason Graham. Mason Graham could be the guy. Mason Graham could be the pick at number four before free agency. Mason Graham this, Mason Graham that. Now I think people have slowed down the Mason Graham talk because the Patriots obviously went out and they signed Milton Williams. We know that Christian Barmore was working out at the voluntary program just about a week or so ago. So people have started to pump the brakes on Mason Graham to the pass, but Mason Graham could actually be the answer

Starting point is 00:11:48 to the Patriots trading down prayers that I'm sure that they have been sending to the sky. Here is what Burt Breer recently wrote at SI about the Chicago Bears. I would say finding help on the interior of the defensive line would be good. Ditto for the idea of difference making running back. But if Mason Graham and Ashton Gentry are gone, I'm not sure there's a guy at either

Starting point is 00:12:12 of those spots worthy of going at 10. The Patriots could have leverage. If Chicago is looking for defensive line help, interior defensive line help. Mason Graham is the best interior defensive lineman of this draft if you look at the production and you look at what he has done, not only as a pass rusher, but really he's just overall game, the TikTok. We talked about it in recent podcasts.

Starting point is 00:12:40 So when you look at Mason Graham, you feel if Chicago feels like pretty much everybody else feels that Mason Graham is the best interior defensive lineman in this draft, and that's the position that they need. So not only is it a position of need, but it's one of the better players in this draft. You have to believe Chicago is at least entertaining the idea Chicago is at least entertaining the idea of, hey, could we move up to draft Graham? And if it's not Graham, how about Ashton Gentry? The Patriots could have leverage, because if it is Mason Graham, we all know that Graham has been linked.

Starting point is 00:13:18 He has been linked to Jacksonville pretty much for the past couple of months. And here is Burt Breer writing about Jacksonville's interest in Graham. Liam Cohen and James Gladstone cut their NFL teeth working for the Rams, where a defense was built around an Ox strong undersized hard playing defensive tackle. I'm not saying that Graham is Aaron Donald, but just last year, Gladstone followed that path to a trade up for Brendan Fisk in LA. Cohen was in Tampa last year and coached in practice against another guy like that, Kalijah Canty.

Starting point is 00:13:57 So when you look at it, Chicago could be interested in Mason Graham. If they're interested in Mason Graham, if he's near the top of their board, well, they've got to look at Jacksonville because Jacksonville has been linked with Graham forever. So what would you have to do to be able to draft Graham before Jacksonville gets their hands on him? You would have to leapfrog Jacksonville. Jacksonville is picking fifth. The Patriots pick fourth. Connect the dots. Ashton Gentry is another interesting aspect of all of this. Maybe it's not Graham. Maybe Chicago is interested in Ashton Gentry. Ashton Gentry is seen as the third best player in this draft. You could argue he's the third blue chip prospect. I've been saying there's two blue chip prospects in this draft that we know of going into it. And that of course

Starting point is 00:14:49 is Abdul Carter and Travis Hunter. But you could debate, you could debate that Ashton Genti is also a blue chip prospect. Think about Ben Johnson and what he did in Detroit. David Montgomery, Jameer Gibbs, that one-two combo, that punch in the backfield. I don't think it's crazy to think that Ben Johnson would be enamored with Ashton Gentry. If you're Chicago, you have a lot of the pieces put together on offense. You've got your offensive line mostly figured out after the free agency period, the trades that you made. You brought in Tooney, you brought in Jonah Jackson.

Starting point is 00:15:25 You've got most of that offensive line figured out, if not all of it, pretty much settled, really worked on that interior. And you've got receivers, you're fine there. You've got your young quarterback. You've got a tight end and cold command. Ashton Gentry could be the final piece of making the Chicago offense truly devastating. And if you are Chicago, and instead of Graham, you're looking at Gentey because you think Gentey is the third best player in this draft, well guess who's been linked to Gentey? That would be the Las Vegas Raiders.

Starting point is 00:16:01 So if you look at this draft and the way it unfolds, if Chicago wants Graham or Genty, they're at the top of their board. If that's the case, well, Graham could go fifth, Genty could go sixth. You could jump to four and have your swing at both guys and pick the one that you want the most. So I don't think it's nuts to believe that Chicago could be willing to move up. And Mike Giardi at Boston Sports Journal, he came out with his latest mock draft. And interestingly enough, Mike had the Patriots trading the fourth pick in the 171st pick to Chicago for the 10th pick and the 41st pick I'd be all in on that trade if

Starting point is 00:16:49 You could trade 4 and 171 for 10 and 41. I would be all in on that trade Because if you're sitting at 10 you still have these possible names waiting for you Will Campbell could fall to 10 now, I don't think it's very likely but he could fall to 10 Kelvin Banks Will Campbell could fall to 10. Now, I don't think it's very likely, but he could fall to 10. Calvin Banks, likely going to be there at 10. There's rumors about banks in San Francisco. San Francisco picks 11th, so Banks could be there. Josh Simmons will almost certainly be there at 10. Jaylen Walker might be there.

Starting point is 00:17:21 Tyler Warren might be there. You could get your pick of one of the two wide receivers, Tet or Matthew Golden. So you move down to 10, but you still have one of the best six or seven guys that are left over in that group after you get past Carter and Hunter and really Cam Ward and Ashton Gentry. If you're sitting there at four and Carter and Hunter are off the board, you have no chance at them.

Starting point is 00:17:48 You don't need a quarterback for obvious reasons. So Cam Ward was never of interest to you. And we went through Ashton Gentry and the thought process of, hey, would you draft Ashton Gentry at four? I would not. Positional value, positional versatility, all those different things that we have talks about.

Starting point is 00:18:05 And we've discussed what the needs are for this football team. So I don't think the Patriots would draft Gentie at four. So once you get past those four guys, Gentie, Ward, Carter, and Hunter, there's a group of like six or seven dudes who to the Patriots are almost the same kind of guy. So if you drop from four to ten, you will still get one of those guys. It's it's also much easier to deal back into the first round if you made this deal because you now have two second round picks. So if you didn't draft your tackle at ten after moving down, Your tackle at 10 after moving down

Starting point is 00:18:51 You know you now have more ammunition to move back into round one to draft your tackle if that's the way you want to approach this and You can move back in Much easier to deal back into that first round and think you deal one of those second round picks not both of them So let me just throw this hypothetical at you. Imagine at number 10 you drafted Kelvin Banks. There's the guy that you put at left tackle. So you draft Banks out of Texas. Then you come back and you get his teammate Matthew Golden. You trade back into the first round to get Matthew Golden somewhere in the teens. And then you still have either the 38th pick or the 41st pick, likely the 41st pick, and imagine if you drafted somebody like Donovan Jackson.

Starting point is 00:19:33 So now you walk out of the draft with Banks, your left tackle, Golden, a potential wide receiver one, and Donovan Jackson who starts at left guard day one. Left tackle, left guard, wide receiver one and Donovan Jackson who starts at left guard day one left tackle left guard wide receiver taken care of and you still have two third round picks to work with 69 and 77 and people will talk about this. I've seen plenty of people talk about it over the last week or two. Day two of this draft is truly the meat of the draft. A lot of good football players are going to be drafted day two. And if you don't trade back into the first, you control day two.

Starting point is 00:20:13 You'd have picks 38, 41, 69, and 77, which gives you plenty of options. Keep your eye on Chicago. All right, two of the most respected draft pundits released their three round mock draft. We'll discuss what the Patriots did next as we continue with today's episode of Lockdown Patriots, part of the Lockdown Podcast Network, your team every day. Did you know that your Fire TV is also an Xbox? Turn any TV into your gaming and entertainment hub

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Starting point is 00:21:38 You got to check out fire TV head to amazon.com fire TV locked on to get started. Xbox Game Pass Ultimate subscription and compatible controller required available on select devices including Fire TV stick 4K second gen Fire TV stick 4K Max first and second gen and Fire TV cube third gen. Check it out. Fire TV stick, 4K devices, they're absolutely fantastic. Theoretically, theoretically, as you get closer to the draft, the better the mock draft should be. More information is out there, more evaluation has been done, and the Patriots sitting there at 438 and 69 means that they are going to have tremendous opportunity. Also, you can throw

Starting point is 00:22:26 77 in as well. Four picks in the first three rounds of this draft next week. Opportunity all over the place. And I thought it was interesting, Mel Kuyper, Field Yates, they released a three round mock draft at ESPN.com and they alternate picks. So Kuiper picks one, Yates comes back and picks the next. That's how this works. And I just thought it was a very interesting draft by both of these guys. Kuiper ended up with two Patriots picks, Yates ended up with two Patriots picks. Kuiper got the first two, Yates got the next two. Let's start at number four. This is not going to surprise anybody. Mel Kuiper at four picked

Starting point is 00:23:09 Will Campbell. Here's what Kuiper wrote. I know a lot has been made of Campbell's sub-33 inch arm length, 33 inches at the pro day, but he has the footwork and pop to stick at left tackle and keep Drake May clean. So Will Campbell, no surprise. Number 38, it's a bit of a surprise. This is from Mel Kuiper. Kenneth Grant, the Patriots spent big to land Milton Williams and Grant could be a 331 pound run stopper right next to him. He's explosive and instinctive. So Kenneth Grant at 38. Then at 69, it was Field Yates' turn, and he drafted wide receiver Kyle Williams from Washington State. Yates wrote, the Patriots have to give Drake May more pass catching options.

Starting point is 00:23:59 Williams' ability to accelerate to top speed really stands out. And then we wrap it up with pick number 77. Again from Yates, Wyatt Millam, who is a guard, going to be a guard at the NFL level. He played at West Virginia. Toughness and dependability define Millam's game. So Campbell, Grant, Williams, Millam are your four picks in this ESPN mock draft three rounds Mel Kuyper field the eights. My first reaction when I looked at this draft this

Starting point is 00:24:33 is Ray Bull 101 isn't it? You want to talk about trenches you want to talk about dominating the line of scrimmage? Three out of the top four picks on the line of scrimmage. Two offensive linemen and a defensive tackle. I would have to imagine Vrabel would be ecstatic if he walked away from this draft feeling like he had filled both offensive line questions. Left tackle and left guard. Have to believe he'd feel great about it. Mylon would be your left guard. Have to believe he'd feel great about it. Milam would be your left guard. Campbell would be your left tackle. Have to imagine that would make him happy. Now the Kenneth Grant pick is the most

Starting point is 00:25:14 interesting to me because that's a luxury. At 38, that's a luxury. You already have Christian Barmore, fingers crossed he stays healthy But you've got bar more working out in the voluntary program as I mentioned a few moments ago You went out and you spent on Milton Williams, and you also have Keon white that I think you could push inside So do you want to spend the 38th pick on a luxury item like a defensive tackle? I know he's 331 pounds and I'm not doubting the player. There are, there were games where, you know, Kenneth Grant didn't necessarily jump out at you, but he has tons of potential.

Starting point is 00:26:00 Explosive big guy in that middle of the defensive line, but how many, how many interior defensive linemen are you going to play? Williams, Barmore, maybe White. Now if you tell me the plan is for Keon White to be kicked more to the edge to the outside, then it makes a little bit more sense. Then you can have a rotation saying to yourself, hey Bar bar more. If he's at 75%, you want to take it slow with him because of the blood clots and what happened last season. Then it makes more sense because you can rotate grant in with bar more. But if we're talking about Milton Williams playing more percentages of the snap

Starting point is 00:26:38 and he's got to, right. He's got to have a higher percentage of snaps this year with the money he's getting paid, then do you really want to spend the 38th pick on a guy that might play, I don't know, 25, 30% of the time versus somebody that you could draft that would play 100% of the time or 80 to 90% of the time. So Grant is the interesting pick out of these four because he's more luxury than necessity. Also no running back drafted. You had the 4th, 38th, 69th, and 77th pick. No running back drafted. If you're wondering, Dillon Sampson went 76th right before the Patriots

Starting point is 00:27:16 picked that 77. I don't know if that changed the math for Field Yates. Sampson took a top 30 visit with the Patriots. And to go back with what we've discussed about running backs and why I would not be going bananas to spend a top 50 pick on running backs in this mock draft six running backs went through the first three rounds six running backs and there was not a single run quote-unquote at that position in this three round mock draft doesn't mean it's not going to happen obviously field the eights and Mel Kuyper, they don't know how this is going to play out, but just going off the mock draft, no run at the running back position,

Starting point is 00:27:53 six running backs through three rounds, which further explains and describes what I was talking about last podcast about the running backs and why I wouldn't be jumping at using one of those Top picks the top two picks on a running back and I see some people wanting to spend the fourth pick on genti wanting to spend the 38th pick on somebody like Trevion Henderson and I really like both of those guys. I love both those guys But this is telling you why six backs through three rounds, fourth, fifth, sixth round, fourth and fifth rounds. You're going to have opportunities. You're going to have opportunities to grab one of these running backs. It's such

Starting point is 00:28:35 a deep position at this draft. And it's really comforting because there were no trades made for the Patriots in this mock draft from Yates and Kuiper. And the Patriots still walk out with what I think is at least three likely starters. You're starting left guard, you're starting left tackle. I think there's really no doubt about that. Now the question is, William's going to be a starting wide receiver. How does that shake out at camp? But you could walk out with three starters and you didn't have to make a trade.

Starting point is 00:29:09 This draft is starter talent, not superstar talent, starter talent. I think this draft is more talented than people give it credit for. You are gonna be able to find starters in this draft. I said this back in February. I tweeted this out at Nick C radio. You're gonna find guys, third round, fourth round,

Starting point is 00:29:24 fifth round, you're gonna find guys third round, fourth round, fifth round. You're gonna find starters in this draft. Day two is gonna be big. All right. That wraps up this edition of Lockdown Patriots. Let me know your thoughts on today's topics. Reach out to me on Twitter. As I just said, Nick C radio, don't forget to throw a comment in on the YouTube channel. Thank you for making Lockdown Patriots your first listen today. For your second listen, check out the Lockdown NFLrafts with Damian Parson and Keith Sanchez. You get the latest draft rankings, rumors, and news every day. You can also check out the Lockdown Mock Draft that was released this week.

Starting point is 00:29:55 Find both programs on YouTube or wherever you listen to podcasts. Have a great day and enjoy your weekend.

Locked On Patriots - Daily Podcast On The New England Patriots - Could New England Patriots Trade For A HUGE Piece At NFL Draft?

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