Monday Patriots Notebook 4/29: News and Notes
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Some Patriots news and notes on this Monday:
Looking around at the various draft grades from this weekend, it appears the vast majority of analysts feel that Patriots de-facto GM Eliot Wolf pulled off a pretty solid performance in his first NFL Draft where he was in charge of a draft room.
Most gave Wolf either an A or a B for his haul of this year’s 2024 Patriots Draft Picks, with the key question by some being whether or not trading back on day two to move up 27 slots with the Chargers netted out the right receiver for their offense. Many people appeared to be high on Georgia’s Ladd McConkey, but news has since leaked out that there may be some concerns about the health of the former Bulldog’s knee, so it will be interesting to see how he ultimately pans out.
After sliding down three slots from 34th overall, New England went ahead and took Washington wideout Ja’Lynn Polk at #37 overall, who most view as a solid pick, just not the electric playmaker many had hoped for.
However, the trade back may end up being more about fellow receiver Javon Baker, who the Patriots ended up with at #110 overall. New England had been originally slated to pick in the fifth round at #137 overall, but that 27 slot jump allowed them to grab the athletic receiver from UCF, which could end up being significant given his style of play. He made some noise this weekend during his press conference with his cockiness after proclaiming, “I make people in wheelchairs stand up,” telling fans to “bring y’all popcorn.” We’ll see if he lives up to that bill.
The pick everyone seems to be panning for is Penn State’s Caedan Wallace, who some felt was a fourth-round selection. New England took him in the third round at #68 overall, and Wolf said they talked about trading back, but instead opted to select him. He explained they weren’t comfortable with potentially losing him given the run of tackles that had gone on prior to when they were on the clock.
“That’s part of the reason we decided not to move back,” explained Wolf. “It was just kind of like, ‘Well, let’s not chance it. This is the player we had targeted all along anyway, let’s just pick him.”
Wallace played right tackle during his career but told reporters he’s “extremely confident” he can make the transition to left tackle. The Patriots will likely still head into this preseason hoping that Chukwuma Okoraforor or Calvin Anderson can handle those duties while they develop Wallace.
Having either of those two pan out would be helpful, given that Mike Onwenu didn’t necessarily seem to be thrilled with playing right tackle. If either of the veterans can settle in at left tackle, it would allow New England to then have a potential younger long-term replacement on the right side, which was a problem for most of last year until Onwenu moved from right guard and finally stabilized things. If Wallace does pan out at left tackle, even better. Pro Football Focus pointed out that Wallace allowed just 13 pressures out of 359 pass-blocking snaps last season.
Meanwhile, grabbing an interior lineman in Layden Robinson is another pick that some analysts didn’t love and also felt he was taken somewhat high. However, most draft guides did project him as a fourth-round prospect, with Pro Football Focus noting, “Robinson surrendered only six total sacks across 1,206 career pass-blocking snaps. He saved his best for 2023 when he allowed just one sack all season.”
The two sixth round picks, South Carolina CB Marcellas Dial and Tennessee QB Joe Milton were widely considered to be good choices, with seventh-round pick, tight end Jaheim Bell out of Florida State also being a sneaky-good pick. PFF had him ranked 13th among FBS tight ends, and they wrote, “Bell is exceptional with the ball in his hands, ranking seventh among the same group in yards after the catch (315).”
Milton is expected to compete in a quarterback room that now sits at five players, saying, “You are the first person I have actually heard that from, to be real with you,” when asked if the club talked to him about a position change, adding, “But, that will never happen.”
All in all, Wolf had said he planned on weaponizing the offense and adding talented players at key positions. Overall, it feels like he managed to pull that off, with early impressions feeling like they may get contributions from all of them, which is about all anyone could have hoped for.
According to Doug Kyed, the Patriots have reportedly finalized a deal with Christian Barmore and have agreed to a contract extension. Locking up Barmore for the future is clearly significant, as it solidifies their interior defense for the future with a player who is extremely disruptive and a key part of that unit. … According to ESPN’s Mike Reiss, the Patriots made an attempt Friday night to get back into Round 1, which was something Jerod Mayo had alluded to during the club’s draft party earlier that evening.
The team they ended up trying to make a deal with was reportedly the Bills, with the Patriots said to have been looking to move up from #34 to #32, which was where Buffalo ended up following their earlier trade down with Kansas City.
However, Carolina was also in play at that spot with an offer of their own, which is who Bills GM Brandon Beane ultimately made the deal with. The Panthers then took South Carolina wideout Xavier Legette, who Reiss feels was the likely candidate on New England’s radar.
That little tidbit came out in Reiss’ Sunday column, which explains his line of questioning Friday night as he asked Wolf if it can be challenging trying to consummate a deal with another team within their own Division.
“I think it can be at times,” said Wolf. “It depends on your relationship with the people that you’re talking to and we feel like we have, actually, good relationships with all our division teams. Have a lot of respect for Brandon Beane (Bills), Chris Grier (Dolphins) and Joe Douglas (Jets) , so that hasn’t been a roadblock for us so far.”
Given the edge the Bills have over the Patriots – at least for now – it feels like they were probably happy Carolina came into play and made that decision a little easier for them.
It looks like former Patriots RB Ezekiel Elliott is headed back to his former team. A report on Monday said Elliott has agreed to a 1-year, $3 million deal to return to the Cowboys. … New England did add tackle depth to the group of 2024 Patriots Undrafted Free Agents, signing Zuri Henry. The former UTEP tackle finished among the top in TheAthletic’s Dane Brugler’s “best of the rest” rankings at that position, while also putting up a respectable 5.14 40 time and a 4.93 shuttle. The 6’6″, 293 pound tackle also has long arms (33 3/4″) and a big wingspan (83 1/4) and may be an interesting player to watch if he adds some additional bulk ahead of training camp. … More on Henry: He earned the honor of 2023 Conference USA Offensive Tackle of the Year last year along with fellow center Andrew Meyer, who was the offensive center of the year. UTEP also earned the honor of Offensive Line of the Year, with both Henry and Meyer playing key roles. Meyer landed in Miami as an undrafted free agent with the Dolphins. … ESPN’s Louis Riddick was excited about New England’s selection of Wallace. “I’m just going to tell you right now, folks Caeden Wallace Moss is going to be one of the steals of this draft,” Riddick said via MassLive. “He’s gonna wind up being a book-end starter for them at right tackle for a decade. That guy, he had fantastic tape.” … An interesting move at CBS after they revealed Monday that both Boomer Esiason and Phil Simms will no longer be a part of the NFL Today this season, with the network apparently replacing them with Matt Matt Ryan. He’ll now team up with James Brown, Nate Burleson, Bill Cowher, and J.J. Watt.
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Curious where the intel comes that Onwenu is not thrilled about playing right tackle? He is being paid as a right tackle and not a right guard. So, I am confused.
One of his press conferences last year, he said, “I’m good there” but he didn’t seem happy about it. He ended up showing his versatility and was obviously compensated accordingly this past offseason, but he didn’t seem thrilled and sort of gave the impression that he still prefers playing right guard.
Gotcha. He probably is a better RG but is sorely needed at RT. Hopefully he has made the mental adjustment and accepted that.