Patriots Trade-Up Landed Them a Defensive Menace in Jacas
Patriots' Bold Trade-Up: Securing a Defensive Menace in Gabe Jacas
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Posted Under: 2026 Patriots Draft
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Heading into the draft, New England Patriots Executive Vice President of Player Personnel Eliot Wolf had said he had no issue if the team needed to trade up to land players they needed, and so far through two nights, that’s proven to be true.
After trading up on night one to land offensive tackle Caleb Lomu in Round 1, the team again made a move in Round two in order to ensure they came away with the guy they wanted.
The Patriots moved up eight spots from #63 to #55 overall Friday night, pulling off a trade with the Los Angeles Chargers to select Illinois linebacker Gabe Jacas.
The deal saw them send their 63rd pick, along with a pick in round 4 (131) and round six (202), to move up to #55.
Jacas is certainly an impressive player. He was named All-Big Ten First Team following his 2025 performance, which saw him tally 11 sacks along with 43 tackles, including 13.5 tackles for a loss, three forced fumbles, and one pass defended.
He was also a menace for Illinois and was extremely disruptive, with Jacas being someone teams had to account for each week. It’s been quite a while since the Patriots had someone who provided that type of presence on the defensive side of the football, and Jacas’ addition might finally give them that.
Wolf said Friday night, following the trade and the linebacker’s selection, that he was surprised that Jacas hadn’t come off the board at that point in the draft. He also added that the fact that the Chargers were looking to acquire more draft capital allowed them to pull off the trade and bring the Illinois standout into the fold.
“Gabe was the highest rated player that we had on there, obviously at a position of need,” said Wolf. “We just felt like, rather than waiting, frankly, again, I said this last night about Caleb [Lomu] too, but I was a little bit surprised that he wasn’t off the board already. So we tried to pull the trigger. We were calling a bunch of teams before we ended up making the trade, and fortunately, the Chargers wanted to acquire some more picks. So, we were able to get up and get the player that we coveted.”
It certainly feels like it was the right decision, and he absolutely appears like a terrific addition. For a team in need of getting after the quarterback, Jacas’ selection appears to definitely give them a significant piece that they’ve been missing.
As it is, Jacas caused opposing teams a lot of problems during his career. He forced seven fumbles (6th all-time at Illinois) during his time with the Fighting Illini, including logging three forced fumbles in each of the last two seasons. He also logged at least 13 tackles for a loss over that same span, along with 8 sacks in 2024 to go with the 11 he put up last season.
Overall, he tallied 183 career tackles, including 97 solo, while the 27 sacks he finished with rank him 2nd in Illinois history.
Jacas is also the eighth player drafted out of Illinois by the Patriots, with the most recent one being offensive lineman Ted Karras in 2016. He’s also the highest drafted player since the club selected defensive back Tavon Wilson in Round 2 (48th overall) back in 2012.
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