Belichick: Patriots in Play for ‘Just About Everybody’ in Upcoming Draft

The Patriots don’t just own a first-round draft pick for the first time since 2015 this year – they own two (No. 23 and 31 overall).

That means head coach Bill Belichick and his staff are in position to select from a much wider range of players than they have been in recent years. As such, Belichick said there are only a select few players (likely Josh Allen, Sam Darnold, Josh Rosen and Brandon Chubb to name a couple) that the team is not “in play” for.

“We really need to know the draft top to bottom,” Belichick said during a pre-draft news conference Friday. “Potentially, I’d say there are a handful of players that are probably out of reach. But realistically, just about everybody is in play other than a handful of guys.”

With the pair of first-round picks – as well as two in the second and eight overall – the Patriots can fill plenty of holes on their roster, but Belichick said the team would not be drafting based on need.

So, just because draft pundits expect the team to pick a left tackle, a pass-rushing linebacker and a quarterback to serve as Brady’s heir apparent, that doesn’t mean that they will.

“I think it’s important to acquire good players wherever they are,” Belichick said. “If you take a player at a position that you might so-called ‘need,’ but he’s not good enough to fill that need, then it’s a wasted pick. So, I don’t understand the whole need thing. I understand player value, and that’s what we try to go by.”