NFL Draft Rumors: 5 players Patriots should take with Arizona pick
By John Buhler
Who should the New England draft with their newly acquired pick from the Cardinals?
The New England Patriots orchestrated a blockbuster trade Tuesday afternoon with the Arizona Cardinals to acquire Jonathan Cooper and the Cardinals’ second round pick in the 2016 NFL Draft for Pro Bowl defensive end Chandler Jones.
While Jones is coming off his best year as a professional, New England’s needs to upgrade their offensive line are paramount, as the running game was non-existent behind it and quarterback Tom Brady had to dink and dunk his way to victory behind the worst offensive line of the Bill Belichick era in New England.
Though New England did bring in a former promising prospect in Cooper to help bolster the interior of their porous offensive line, the real steal of this trade with the Cardinals is that the Patriots acquired the No. 61 overall pick.
New England doesn’t have a first round pick in the 2016 NFL Draft because of Roger Goodell’s Deflategate nonsense, so the Patriots first pick of the Draft comes at No. 60 late in the second round. The Patriots now have both No. 60 and No. 61 at their disposal to fill some of their holes to potentially contend for another trip to the Super Bowl.
By essentially doubling down with back-to-back picks late in the second round, this gives Belichick the freedom to go after a wide receiver at either selection. Belichick has notoriously whiffed on wide receivers in the NFL Draft not named Julian Edelman. New England will almost certainly take a wideout at either No. 60 or No. 61 because they’ll have the luxury of back-to-back picks.
Though wide receiver seems the most likely of positions for New England to target at No. 61, here are five players the Patriots should consider using the pick they acquired from the Cardinals in the Cooper/Jones trade.
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