Trading for picks in 2012

[ctpatsfan77]

I'm not saying that in 2 years they'll be a shell of their former self at all, but the window in which to realistically win the Super Bowl(s) is probably going to be closed within the next 6 years.

For better or worse, though, the Patriots' mission statement rejects the entire notion of a "window."

 

[MaineMan]

Just to be clear: the Patriots do not trade down simply for the sake of trading down.

If they can get the player they want and pick up extra ammo in the draft, they will. If it's one or the other, they'll take the one they feel helps them more. [With McCourty, that was clearly the player; in 2008, they took a 2009 2 from San Diego over Shawn Crable.]

Didn't BB trade down a few spots in the first round TWICE before taking McCourty? According to what I've read, he was offered a third trade down but said, "No. Let's take our guy." I interpreted that to mean that he had been targeting McCourty all along. In which case, he "got his guy" PLUS two extra picks.