Should Patriots have traded up for Baker Mayfield?
If the Cleveland Browns had passed on Baker Mayfield, the New England Patriots were considering a bold move up the draft board to take him.
If the Cleveland Browns hadn’t chosen Baker Mayfield with the No. 1 overall selection, things in the 2018 NFL Draft might have gotten really weird. The New England Patriots were reportedly considering a massive move up the board to grab the Oklahoma quarterback at No. 2.
Mayfield’s agent, Jake Mills, revealed New England’s serious interest in his client on the Andrew Brandt Podcast. Per Mills, representatives from the Patriots told he and his client they might “get a big surprise on draft day.” The general idea is that the Patriots would have dealt their two first rounders and two second-round picks to the Giants to move up and grab Mayfield.
The Patriots obviously have a significant need to find their quarterback of the future. Tom Brady is still one of the best players in the NFL at his position, but he’ll be 41 years old this season. Bill Belichick and the rest of the Patriots brain trust can only count on him for so many years.
The future Hall-of-Fame quarterback’s questionable feelings about the Patriots right now could have also heightened the team’s need to draft Mayfield. Brady elected to “plead the fifth” when he was asked about whether or not the franchise appreciated him. Even so, it’s hard to imagine Brady playing for another franchise.
Brady’s impending retirement is what makes the Mayfield story plausible and intriguing. It’s not impossible that the Patriots would dedicate such significant resources to find Brady’s heir apparent. They, more than most NFL teams, understand the importance of having a star under center.
Ultimately, Patriots fans should be happy this deal didn’t come to fruition. Mayfield isn’t the sort of prospect you can leverage the majority of your draft capital for. His lack of height and small hand size make him a questionable selection for any NFL team. His weaknesses would only be amplified playing in the cold weather of New England late in the season.
Even if Mayfield was considered a can’t miss NFL prospect, the price to acquire him should have been prohibitive for the Patriots. New England simply has too many holes on their roster to give up four picks in the top 60.
If the Patriots really wanted to come away with Brady’s potential successor in this draft they could have acquired a similar prospect at a much lower price. Josh Rosen dropped all the way to the No. 10 pick. He projects as a better fit in New England’s passing game than Mayfield and could have been available for half the price. The team’s pair of first-round selections likely would have been enough to acquire the former UCLA star.
The team could have also chosen to stay put and take Lamar Jackson in the first round. He wasn’t selected until Baltimore ended his slide with the last pick in the round. New England had two chances to make the dual-threat quarterback a centerpiece of this year’s draft class.
Next: NFL Draft Grades: How did the Patriots grade out?
The idea of New England trading up for Mayfield is fun to think about, but it is a move that would have run against the Patriots DNA. They succeed by making under-the-radar moves. Overpaying for Mayfield could have set the franchise back for years to come.