New England Patriots: Grading each day of the 2020 NFL Draft
Day 1
Entering the first round of the 2020 NFL Draft, the New England Patriots came into the opening night on Thursday holding one pick at the end of the round.
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New England, which entered the draft initially with a dozen selections, had the No. 23 overall pick in the first round, had a decent amount of options to choose from at the end of that round, but Bill Belichick and company made the ultimate decision to trade away the pick and move out of the first round.
As the pick got closer on Thursday, the Patriots sent their pick to the Los Angeles Chargers in exchange for a pair of selections later on in the 2020 draft. New England sent that No. 23 overall pick to Los Angeles in exchange for the No. 37 pick (second round) and the No. 71 overall pick (third round).
With the Patriots having multiple holes to fill on both sides of the ball, moving out of the first round to grab another pick made sense on multiple levels, although it’s a decision that often isn’t popular with the fan base.
Although New England didn’t ultimately end up taking a player in the first round of the seven-round draft, the Patriots get a grade of C for their opening-round performance based solely on the fact they didn’t take a player but also gained another piece going into the final two days.