Let’s make this abundantly clear: If we were making the decision on draft night, our number one priority would be to land
Drake Maye third overall. We understand the questions about Maye’s footwork, missing “easy ones” at times and the statistical stepback in 2022. But, we also understand the rocket arm, big-bodied frame, big-time throws made, and youth that results in top-8
NFL QB potential. At this point, we’re a little less enamored with Jayden Daniels , but would lean heavily towards taking him if Maye was Commanders bound. But, Eliot Wolf might not agree. Wolf might not love either Maye or Daniels. And, don’t get it twisted, you HAVE to love the guy to take him with the third pick in the draft. The Patriots' De-facto GM might also see J.J. McCarthy as a mid-to-late first-round pick instead of a top-5 guy. If that’s the case, then there’s zero reason to not trade out, unless teams are trying to get something for nothing. And, at this point, that’d be hard to imagine with so many QB needy teams reportedly looking to move up. The most talked about possibility is the Minnesota Vikings after they added an extra first-round pick a couple of weeks ago. The much talked and written about idea is the Vikings sending #11 and #23 in this year’s draft, along with a 2025 1st-round pick for #3. The biggest stumbling block to that potential deal is sliding from a top-3 pick to outside the top-10. The probability of landing one of the top two left tackles or top three receivers drops precipitously with that scenario. It’d be VERY tough to swallow for Patriots fans and this space, if the Pats walked out of this draft without a potential stud QB or premiere blue-chip offensive prospect. Some would say it’d be disastrous. But, what about door #3? What if the Patriots steal a page from old friend Monti Ossenfort ? During last year’s draft, Ossenfort was wheeling and dealing. The Cardinals walked in with the third pick and got creative (check out this video ). First,
Arizona dealt that third pick to Houston. This was the deal: - Cardinals traded #3 & #105 (4th Rd) - Houston traded #12, #33, first-round and third-round picks in 2024 It’d be tough for Wolf to emulate that deal with the Vikings, because Minnesota doesn’t have a second or third-round pick in this draft. So, what would a Patriots-Vikings deal look like, using the Cardinals-Texans trade as a blueprint? Let’s use the Rich Hill trade chart . In the Cardinals-Texans deal, the Cardinals moved out 507 points, while they brought in 905 points. Looking at this year’s chart , the third pick is worth 514 points. So, the Vikings would have roughly 400 points to make up. A draft night deal could look like this: - Patriots trade #3 & their 2024 5th Rd pick (#137): 530 points - Vikings trade #11, #23, #108 (4th Rd), and their 2025 1st Rd pick: 938 points Seems reasonable. BUT, to pull off the “Full Monti,” the Patriots would then have to move back up. That’s what the Cardinals did last year, when shortly after trading with Houston, they agreed to a deal with the Lions for the sixth pick. That deal looked like this: - Arizona sent out #12 and a second-round pick (#34) - Detroit sent back #6 and a fifth-round pick (#168) That deal would be much easier for the Pats to replicate. Let’s say Wolf calls Giants GM Joe Schoen and
New York is willing to play ball. Here’s the deal in theory: - Patriots send out #11 and their second-round pick (#34): 533 points - Giants send back #6 and a fifth-rd pick (#166): 455 points Yes, it’s an overpay for the Patriots, but that’s the price you pay to land one of the top left tackles or wide receivers in the draft. A true blue chipper at a critical position not named quarterback. The final results for Wolf & Company would look like this: - Patriots trade #3, #34 & #137 - Patriots receive #6, #23, #108, #140, and a 2025 1st Rd Pick (Minnesota) It’s an interesting exercise and adds an option for the Pats, IF they don’t love any QB1 sitting there for the taking. Instead of landing that QB, they could walk away with the following: - Rd. 1 #6: Joe Alt , OT Notre Dame - Rd. 1 #23: AD Mitchell , WR
Texas - Rd. 3 #68: Jalen McMillan , WR
Washington - Rd. 4 #103: Spencer Rattler , QB South Carolina - Rd. 4 #108: Kiran Amegadjie , OT Yale - Rd. 5 #140: Ben Sinnott , TE Kansas State That’s what we’d scientifically call a FREAKING LOAD! It’s loaded enough to make you think twice about sticking and picking at three. But, we still stand by the opinion that there is nothing you’d rather have in the NFL than a top five to eight QB, and when you get a chance to land that guy, you take the swing. The Bruins Bridge Let’s do our best to take that 30,000-foot view of this Bruins season, before we get to the Stanley Cup Playoffs. The 2023-2024 Boston Bruins are a bridge team, tight up against the cap and unable to do much to replace Patrice Bergeron and David Krejci . They were left with nothing else to do, but go shopping in the clearance aisle, signing James van Riemsdyk and Kevin Shattenkirk to one-year deals. Then, in the next aisle over, they found Morgan Geekie for a 2-year deal. And, as they made their way to the cash register, they decided to spend their extra change on Danton Heinen . Yet, here we are getting ready for the playoffs as the Bruins try to finish atop the Atlantic division having already eclipsed 100 points on the season. Given the circumstances and expectations from many, that’s a hell of a season. Honestly, as bad as we’d love to see an epic run, we all should just be happy to watch this team play postseason hockey, while dreaming of the almost $22 million in cap space they’re projected to have this offseason. Good
Job boys. Go get ‘em! Speaking of Go Get ‘Em The Celtics won their 60th game of the season on Wednesday night versus the Oklahoma City Thunder . It’s been an unbelievable ride of a regular season, placing the team near or at the top of a laundry list of statistical categories. This writer was too young to truly appreciate the 1986 team, so this team is the best regular season team these eyes have witnessed. Ever. And while we all understand this season is about Banner 18, it’s still quite the experience watching a professional
basketball team run through fellow pro basketball teams like they’re Division III programs. It’s popular to chalk up this kind of a season to talent more than coaching and we’d mostly agree with that. You’re not this dominant without top talent and the C’s obviously have an embarrassment of riches. But, let’s also appreciate the job that Joe Mazzulla and the rest of his staff has done this season. This team hasn’t gotten complacent much, during a season that sees them THIRTEEN games ahead of the second-best team in the Conference as of this writing. The vast majority of nights, this team has shown up, played hard, and taken care of business. They’re fun to watch on both ends of the floor. And, the staff most importantly has managed egos and fit both Jrue Holiday and Kristaps Porzingis seamlessly into the existing lineup. Now, let’s see if they can finish the job… Red Sox Quick Hits - Yes, they’ve played the Mariners and A’s , but starting 5-2 is a heck of a lot better than starting 2-5 no matter the competition. - Ceddanne Rafaela has room to grow at the plate, as we all knew. But, my goodness is he fun to watch and simply electric in center. - The pitching approach has been fascinating to watch early this season. Relying on more
BREAKING balls makes all the sense in the world, when you consider hitters are doing their best damage on the hard stuff. We just wonder, if this keeps going, can the arms hold up? - We’re still not sold on Wilyer Abreu … - Did Jared Duran end up leaving Oakland? If we were him, after that series at the plate, we’d ask Craig Breslow to deal us. But, maybe a better question is, how would Duran hold up in Sacramento? This article first appeared on Boston Sports Journal and was syndicated with permission.