2021 NFL Mock Draft: Patriots get Trevor Lawrence in all-trades, chaos edition

Trade: Cardinals send No. 16 and 2022 second-round pick to Broncos for No. 9 overall – With the departure of Patrick Peterson, the Cardinals secondary doesn’t appear to be in the best spot. Malcolm Butler is a fine stopgap option but Byron Murphy has been up and down and the depth is extremely lackluster. That’s why they’re aggressive in jumping ahead of the Cowboys at No. 10 so they can get Patrick Surtain II, the best cornerback in the class.

The one knock on Surtain at Alabama was an apparent lack of athleticism in relation to some of the other corners in this class. But, while his pro day numbers may be inflated, he proved that to be a bit of a misnomer as he’s plenty explosive as an athlete. More importantly, he’s the most technically refined player in the class at the position and can start as a quality corner right away in Arizona. Giving up only a future second-round pick to the Broncos, who are out of quarterbacks to take at No. 9, to trade up only makes it sweeter.

Trade: Bengals send No. 20 and 52 (via Bears) and 2023 third-round pick to Cowboys for No. 10 overall – Remember when I said that the Bengals taking Chase at No. 5 would be a mistake for them given their other options with Sewell on the board? This is why. When teams are desperate for quarterbacks as the Bears are, a franchise like Cincinnati can better their positioning in a huge way by not only getting valuable draft capital moving forward but also adding more ammo to make a move like this, trading up with the Cowboys after Surtain was snatched right before them.

Thus, the Bengals get extra picks and still are able to get Chase with the No. 10 pick. This would give Burrow, as he returns from a torn ACL that ended his rookie season, a terrific host of weapons to work with moving forward, pairing Chase with Tee Higgins and Tyler Boyd to form a vastly talented young trio of pass-catchers that can help to open up the offense.