Trading Down Won't Be Easy For Patriots This Year
BOSTON (CBS) -- Whether it's completely accurate or not, Bill Belichick and the Patriots have developed a big of a reputation for trading down in the NFL Draft.
Considering the crop of prospects for this year's draft aren't necessarily elite, the Patriots may be tempted to trade down from their spot at No. 21 on Thursday night. But doing so won't be easy.
ESPN's Adam Schefter reported Monday morning that far more teams have been inquiring about moving back in the draft as opposed to moving up.
Within the past week, as the draft has drawn closer, multiple teams in the top half of the draft have inquired with others to try to trade back in the first round, per sources. So far, the interest in moving back in Thursday's draft has greatly exceeded the interest in moving up.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) April 25, 2022
With few teams eager to trade up into the top half of the first round of the draft, that lack of demand is likely to extend for the remainder of the first round.
Sports Illustrated's Albert Breer said that basically beyond the top 10, evaluators don't see a huge gap in talent over the next 30 or so picks.
"I think it's gonna be really hard to trade down this year," Breer said on NBC Sports Boston. "Because I think after you get past pick 12 or 13, it flattens out, and the difference between 14 and 44 isn't very big. No one's gonna want to move up."
Breer added: "Most of the movement you're hearing now -- because this isn't a great draft, and really the meat of the draft class is in the second and third round -- is teams looking to move down, not up."
Even with that being the case, ESPN's Mike Reiss made an educated guess that "Bill Belichick will work hard to trade down in the first round, as this is the type of draft where the strength and value is in the 30-90 range."
Ultimately, the world will see how things shake out on Thursday night.