The Patriots don’t have a first-round draft pick, stripped away from them as part of the Deflategate penalties.
But they have plenty of other picks, after recent trades have given them more ammunition and more flexibility come this year’s draft.
Via Mike Reiss of ESPN.com, the Patriots now have 11 total draft picks, though five of them are in the sixth round.
Thanks to the second-rounder they added from Arizona in the Chandler Jones deal, they’ll have back-to-back selections in the second round.
They also own Houston’s sixth-rounder from the Keshawn Martin trade, Chicago’s sixth from yesterday’s Martellus Bennett deal and Houston’s seventh from the hit-the-snooze-button Ryan Mallett deal.
They also picked up a third-round compensatory pick and three compensatory sixth-rounders, picks which can’t be traded this year (the rules have changed to allow trading of comp picks starting next year).
All told, the Patriots will draft 60th, 61st, 91st, 96th, 196th, 204th, 208th, 214th, 221st, 243rd and 250th.
That leaves a big gulf in the middle, with no picks in the fourth or fifth rounds. But trying to move seems part of their M.O., and having that extra picks from trades should give them the flexibility to work the board as they traditionally do.