Watt seems like a perfect fit... except for his agent.
What are the odds the Pats overlook the Tom Condon Factor??? Could they bank on the assumption that the new CBA will include a rookie salary cap?
If there's a slotting system, the Condon thing becomes more or less a non-issue.
Watt looks like a great fit, and so does Jordan. The Pats could get up to the pick#11 range by dealing the #60 pick, and it seems to me that so long as the two top quarterbacks get drafted early, one of those two guys will definitely drop into trading-up range. You have to figure the following players will definitely go before either Watt or Jordan:
Peterson, Fairley, Bowers, Dareus, A.J. Green, Von Miller.
If we assume that Newton and Gabbert will get picked in the top 10 as well, most likely before one or more of those blue-chip guys, then that pushes Watt/Jordan to the 9/10 range. Hard to imagine that Carolina, Buffalo, Cincinnati, Arizona, San Francisco and Tennessee will all pass on quarterbacks.
Throw in the fairly decent chance that Quinn, Julio Jones and/or Amukamara will get into the top 10 somehow, and there's a pretty good chance that either Watt or Jordan falls to pick #11 or #12. And if they do both get picked before then, there's a chance that it's because someone potentially better is falling, like Von Miller (unlikely) or Fairley or Dareus. And if they like Robert Quinn, they're in a pretty good position to get him, too, although I'd rather have Watt.
Given how many picks they have, I'd be shocked if the Pats weren't thinking of a trade up here. I can see not trading into the top five, but the cost to trade up into the top 11-12 range is pretty negligible for them. They can get there and still essentially have two first-rounders left.
People say the Pats always trade down, but haven't they also traded up a lot, particularly in situations like this, when they're only trading up a few spots? They traded up for Dan Graham, Ty Warren, Eugene Wilson, Bethel Johnson, Rohan Davey... Chad Jackson's the only one I can remember where they had to trade up a long way. I guess it all depends on who they like in this draft, but if they're holding back from getting someone they think is an impact player because they don't want to give up pick #60, that would be strange, wouldn't it?