What time will the Patriots be making the third overall pick at the 2024 NFL Draft?
FOXBORO -- For the majority of the last two-plus decades, Patriots fans were left waiting until the end of the first round on draft night. Barring a massive trade, that will not be the case Thursday night with the Patriots set to draft third overall at the 2024 NFL Draft.
The reward for New England's 4-13 season in 2023 is a chance to potentially land a franchise quarterback with that third overall pick. Will it be Drake Maye or J.J. McCarthy? Will Washington pass on Jayden Daniels and let him fall to New England?
It shouldn't take too long to find out, and Thursday could actually be a relatively early night for Patriots fans. That's something they haven't experienced since the NFL Draft took over Thursday nights in 2010.
What time will the Patriots draft on Thursday night?
The draft will begin at 8 p.m., but we all know the Bears will not be passing in their card for the first overall pick at that time. Roger Goodell will take the stage in Detroit to a chorus of boos, he'll ramble on for a while about how great and perfect the league is and how honored he is to be in the Motor City, and he'll then say that the Chicago Bears are on the clock.
And then the Bears will likely take all 10 minutes to announce that they've drafted Caleb Williams, despite knowing for months that they were going to draft Caleb Williams with the top overall selection.
Then the Washington Commanders will be on the clock, and they'll likely take all 10 minutes to announce that they're drafting Jayden Daniels.
At that point the Patriots will be on the clock, and we should know who they're picking -- or if they're making a trade -- sometime between 8:35 and 8:40 p.m. Last year's third overall pick -- Houston took linebacker Will Anderson Jr. with their second straight pick -- was made around 8:35 p.m.
Pats fans should plan around that time, though things could get pushed back if Washington makes a deal -- or the Pats end up trading away the third pick.
What is the highest the Patriots have ever drafted?
This is the highest the Patriots will pick since 1993, when they made Drew Bledsoe the top overall pick. It was one of four times the Patriots have made the top selection, joining Irving Fryar in 1984, Ken Simms in 1982, and Jim Plunkett in 1971.
The Patriots have never drafted third overall, but did draft fourth overall three times: Willie McGinest in 1994, John Hannah in 1973, and Phil Olsen in 1970.
The last time the team made a top 10 pick in the NFL Draft was in 2008, when Bill Belichick drafted current Patriots head coach Jerod Mayo. But that wasn't even the Patriots' own pick, as they acquired San Francisco's pick in a trade the year prior.
It's been a while since the Patriots were this far up the draft board, so it's OK if you're a little rusty on what happens at the start of the show. And make no mistake, the NFL Draft is a show first and foremost.
Who is making the pick for the Patriots?
It's a collaborative effort in New England and Mayo and his coaching staff, along with the scouting staff, will all have input into the team's selections. But Eliot Wolf is running the show, and the Patriots' director of scouting and de facto GM has said that he has final say in the decision-making. It will ultimately be his call come Thursday night.
However, that doesn't mean he's going to dismiss everyone else and their thoughts.
"If I'm the only person that wants a player and everybody else in the building doesn't want a player, I'm not crazy," Wolf said last week. "We're going to try to do what's right."
Wolf has been with the Patriots since 2020 when Belichick brought him in as a consultant, and he's been New England's director of scouting since 2022. He brought plenty of experience to New England, serving as the assistant GM of the Cleveland Browns from 2018-19 following a 14-year run in the scouting department for the Green Bay Packers.
Wolf is the son of Hall of Fame executive Ron Wolf, who won a pair of Super Bowls as a scout with the Raiders and another as GM of the Green Bay Packers when they beat the Patriots in Super Bowl XXXI.
When are the Patriots' others picks in the 2024 NFL Draft?
Wolf and company will be busy this weekend, with seven other selection to make on Friday and Saturday:
- Round 2, Pick 34
- Round 3, Pick 68
- Round 4, Pick 103
- Round 5, Pick 137
- Round 6, Pick 189
- Round 6, Pick 193 (from Jacksonville)
- Round 7, Pick 231
The Pats own the second pick in the second round, which begins at 7 p.m. on Friday night, so we should know their first pick that evening around 7:15 p.m. -- barring a trade, of course.
