Last year, the Patriots seemingly eschewed the draft, and instead used picks for trades in assembling the 2017 roster. They traded away their first-round pick (No. 32) to acquire the wide receiver Brandin Cooks. The second-round pick was shipped to the Carolina Panthers as part of the Kony Ealy trade. When the draft was completed, the Patriots had selected just four players.
This year should be a different story. The Patriots have picks 23 and 31 in the first round, as well as picks 43 and 63 in the second round, and a total of seven picks for the draft.