Patriots ‘blasé’ by rival’s withdrawal from trade on draft day

Patriots

“They thought they had, on paper, some sort of close deal with the Bills, and they think that deal was sort of bought off the Panthers.”

The Patriots were close to completing a trade with the Buffalo Bills that would have moved New England back into the first round of the draft. according to Cameron Wolfe of NFL Media.

The Patriots reportedly had their eyes on a pair of receivers, according to Wolfe, who recently appeared on CLNS Media’s Patriots Daily podcast.

“They tried to come back in the first round,” Wolfe said. “They were trying, they called for a few different picks and they thought they had something at No. 32 with the Bills. The Bills had just come back with the Chiefs down 28-32 and they wanted to get to 32.

“They had Xavier Legette and Keon Coleman rated about the same on their board,” Wolfe added. “I’m not sure which one they would have taken at 32, but those were their two best receivers on the board at that point.”

Buffalo ended up trading the pick, but not to the Patriots. The Bills instead chose the Panthers as a trade partner, receiving the 33rd overall pick as well as a fifth and sixth rounder from Carolina.

That didn’t go well with the Patriots, according to Wolfe.

“I talked to someone at the Patriots who was feeling a little jaded,” Wolfe said. “Because they thought they had some sort of deal, on paper, close to the Bills, and they think that deal was sort of bought off the Panthers.”

Wolfe said this type of thing happens all the time and it shouldn’t be seen as a slight against the Patriots.

He mentioned the relationship between Panthers general manager Dan Morgan and Bills general manager Brandon Beane. Beane had spent nearly two decades with Carolina, and Morgan played for the team before entering the front office. Morgan also worked with Beane in Buffalo as director of player personnel.

The Bills were also able to complete the trade without helping out a division rival, Wolfe said.

“You hear all the time, ‘Hey, we found the guy we wanted, he was going to be our pick no matter what,'” Wolfe said. “That wasn’t the case here. The Patriots would have loved to have Keon Coleman or Xavier Legette and it didn’t work out that way.

The Patriots ended up going back before selecting Ja’Lynn Polk, who was the next wide receiver on their board, Wolfe said. Then they used the fourth extra round they won to select Javon Baker.

“They basically double-paid,” Wolfe said. “Getting Ja’Lynn Polk and Javon Baker for what it would have cost to get Xavier Legette or a Keon Coleman. So as you follow this for years to come, it will be Ja’Lynn Polk and Javon Baker against one of those two receivers. Is the combined effort of these two players more valuable for this?