The New England Patriots are involved in the first trade of NFL Draft week: they traded a fifth-round selection (No. 170) to the Houston Texans in exchange for picks in the sixth (No. 183) and seventh (No. 245) rounds. Not necessarily a blockbuster, but an interesting move nonetheless.
What exactly does that late-round pick swap mean from a Patriots perspective, though? Let’s find out.
More late-round picks means more opportunities
Whereas players selected in the first four rounds of the draft are generally locks to make a team’s roster as rookies, the final three rounds are reserved primarily for specialists and players regarded as priority free agents.