New England Patriots

Morning sports update: NFL insider believes the Patriots are the most likely team to trade up in the draft

Also: A Bruins playoff guide, and Patriots draft pick trivia.

A view from the 2018 NFL draft in Texas.

By Hayden Bird

4 minutes to read

The Red Sox take the field for their second home game of the season tonight against the Blue Jays. First pitch is set for 7:10 p.m.

And the Bruins begin the playoffs in Game 1 tonight at TD Garden against the Maple Leafs at 7 p.m.

Will the Patriots trade up? Predicting what Bill Belichick will do in the NFL draft is nearly impossible. In his time with the Patriots, virtually every first round scenario has been explored. Last year, for example, the Patriots actually stayed where they were on the draft board with two first round picks, defying the existing logic that a trade would occur.

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This season, New England is armed with 12 picks heading into the draft (April 25-27). One ESPN expert, Dan Graziano, believes the Patriots – who currently hold the 32nd pick in the first round – are the most likely team in the league to trade up:

There’s a thought around the league that the Rob Gronkowski retirement leaves the Patriots hungry for offensive playmakers. This first round is strong at tight end, and New England has 12 total picks — tied with the Giants for most in this draft. That enables the Pats to move up if there’s a tight end or playmaking wide receiver within range of where they sit at No. 32.

On Wednesday, Belichick responded to a question about if the Patriots try to stay up to date on how other teams value players, especially those who have picks near New England

His answer was expansive and revealed some insight into how the Patriots might approach a draft-day trade:

We track it the best we can. I think there’s a lot of misinformation that’s out there now. There’s sometimes other accurate information that you can obtain through one source or another. I think sometimes it’s relevant. A lot of times it’s not the team right in front of you; it’s a team somewhere else.

A team that could be, depending on what round you’re in, at a location behind you, that may be looking at a certain position or a certain player that could affect your draft strategy, as well. The team in front of you might not have any need for or you know they wouldn’t even want a type of player, maybe players that you’re considering but that doesn’t really mean anything because anybody could move up into that spot and take that player.

It’s all relevant. I know, you’re right – in the first round, I mean, we’re not going from [No.] 30 to eight, 32 to eight, whatever it is. That’s not realistic. There could be a team at, whatever – 40, that’s really more of a problem for us than the team at 31.

Each round is different. Each situation is different. We usually have a decent amount of time between our picks to identify, “OK, here are the players that we’re considering. Here are the teams that are around us.” If one of those teams is actively trying to trade out then that means somebody is going to trade in and who could they be coming up for, how would that affect us, do we want to get ahead of that team, do we care?

Opening night of the draft begins at 8 p.m. on Thursday, April 25.

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Trivia: Who was the most recently drafted player – chosen by the Patriots – to have made a Pro Bowl roster? (Answer at the bottom.)

Hint: His college team went 0-12 in his senior season. He no longer plays for the Patriots.

More from Boston.com:

Quickly looking at the Celtics’ picks

: With the end of the NBA regular season, there is clarity on the status all of the draft picks that the Celtics own this year. Well, sort of. [Boston Globe]

A complete guide to Bruins-Maple Leafs: Before the puck drops on the Bruins’ opening round playoff series against the Maple Leafs, let Boston Globe reporter Matt Porter walk you through a few things. [Boston Globe]

Maybe Marcus Smart won’t be out as long as initially projected?

Here’s the full NBA playoff bracket:

Dirk Nowitzki’s final shot was vintage Dirk:

On this day: In 1961, the Celtics won a third straight NBA title over the St. Louis Hawks, 4-1. Bill Russell led the way in Game 5 with 30 points and 38 rebounds.

Also, in 1989, Ron Hextall of the Philadelphia Flyers became the first goaltender to score the playoffs in NHL history.

Daily highlight: In his final game as an NBA player, Dwayne Wade messed around and got a triple double.

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Trivia answer: Jamie Collins