Patriots Visit 'Went Well' with Carter - But Will He Be There at #4?

Penn State standout Abdul Carter continued his tour with teams that he believes have a shot at drafting him, and he finally made his way to New England on Monday.

Carter was reportedly on hand for one of the team’s 30 visits, with the only question being whether or not he’ll be available by the time the New England Patriots make their selection with the #4 overall pick.

According to NBC Sports Boston’s Phil Perry, the visit went well, with head coach Mike Vrabel and his staff getting a potential feel for how Carter might fit should he end up in New England.

“I’m told the visit went well and that the team feels as though they got a good feel for who he is as a person,” said Perry Monday night. “That’s one of the critical reasons for why you have these 30 visits. You’re able to bring him into your building, you’re able to spend, not only the day with them but oftentimes, the night before. You go to dinner, come in the next day, go through some meetings, meet some different people. If you have any medical things that pop up, or that did pop up, for instance, at the Combine, you can re-check those too.”

“There’s a lot of time involved with these meetings, generally speaking, and so for somebody like Carter, who, let’s be honest, it sounds like, according to all reports, is not going to be available to the Patriots at #4 overall, but could be, potentially. It sounds like it went OK and they at least have a feel for who he is now.”

Oct 5, 2024; University Park, Pennsylvania, USA; Penn State Nittany Lions defensive end Abdul Carter (11) walks off the field following the game against the UCLA Bruins at Beaver Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Matthew O'Haren-Imagn Images

(PHOTO: Matthew O’Haren-Imagn Images)

However, like any defensive pass rusher, it sounds like Carter has a bit of an edge to him. Perry noted that after hearing from another team that met with him, Carter is definitely his own person and the only concern might be how well he stays within the coaching lines for whatever club ultimately takes him.

“But there are questions, Tom [Curran] as to what he’ll be in the NFL from a coachability standpoint,” said Perry. “I spoke to one team earlier this morning that said, ‘He’s not the most selfless guy you’ve ever met. He’s definitely into his own deal. He likes to do things his way.’ Doesn’t make him a bad guy, certainly doesn’t make him undraftable. He’s one of the most talented players in the draft. But how much of that, if you’re New England, or Cleveland, or New York, are you willing to put up with if you’re going to make this kind of investment in him?”

The biggest thing when it comes to Carter is he appears to be the type of player who can certainly impact a defense. Perry mentioned that one player he continues to be compared to, and if he turned out to be anywhere near that level, he would absolutely be an unreal addition to the roster.

“The comp that I continue to get from evaluators on Abdul Carter, is Von Miller,” said Perry. “So if you get a future Hall of Fame kind of talent, he might be worth a little bit of maintenance.”

Will Carter Be Available at #4?

The only problem is that the Browns, who pick second overall and had been favored to take Colarado’s Shedeur Sanders, no longer seem to be favoring taking a quarterback. Having signed Joe Flacco, it feels like they may take either Carter or Travis Hunter, and forego quarterback until either later in this draft or potentially next year.

However, despite having added both Russell Wilson and Jameis Winston, Tom Pelissero said while filling in for Rich Eisen last week that he wouldn’t rule out the Giants from potentially taking Sanders, given how much work they put into him.

“The draft begins at #2. Because the Browns, they could take Travis Hunter, they could take Abdul Carter, or they could shock us and do something else,” explained Pelissero. “The Giants at #3, conventional wisdom of what most people seem to think, is that they take whoever the Browns don’t take between Hunter and Carter. I still – and I’ve said it over and over, and I’m not saying that I know this is going to happen – I just would not be shocked if they take a quarterback.”

“They have Russell Wilson. They have Jameis Winston. They’re paying those guys like $15 million combined. They put a ton of work into all the quarterbacks in this draft, and they were at Colorado repeatedly. Like every game, they were out there, all season.”

“Does that mean it’s Shedeur Sanders at #3? I don’t know that. If it’s not Shedeur Sanders at #3, then the wait could be on for a little bit for all the reasons that we’ve covered, including outside of those top three teams, there’s just not that many teams do you really foresee taking a quarterback in round one. Saints, maybe the Raiders or the Jets, I don’t really foresee either one, the Steelers, maybe the Rams, and that’s it.”

Needless to say, it’s possible the Giants could do what Atlanta did last year and add a top prospect to develop for the future behind their two free agents. But either way, unfortunately for the Patriots, if they want Carter, they’re still going to be at the mercy of the teams ahead of them in order for that to happen.

About Ian Logue

Ian Logue is a Seacoast native and owner and senior writer for PatsFans.com, an independent media site covering the New England Patriots and has been running this site in one form or another since 1997.

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