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Mayo: Patriots ‘still open’ to trades for No. 3 pick, ‘disappointed’ over not signing Calvin Ridley
"Definitely feel like we have time to really nail down our prospects in who we are going to go after."
Speaking to reporters in Florida, Patriots head coach Jerod Mayo acknowledged that the Patriots are leaving all options on the table when it comes to their No. 3 pick in the NFL Draft — while also acknowledging some of the team’s wins and losses so far in free agency.
Mayo, who fielded questions from ESPN’s Mike Reiss and other reporters on the first day of the NFL’s annual meeting in Orlando, echoed a similar message to the one he shared with NFL Media’s Steve Wyche on Sunday morning regarding the team’s top draft pick.
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Even though New England remains focused on adding a quarterback in the 2024 NFL Draft, that doesn’t mean that the franchise will hang up the phone if any team looking to trade up comes calling up a sizable offer.
“Obviously, quarterback is definitely a priority. With that being said, we’re still open to any type of deals that come our way,” Mayo told Reiss and other reporters. “We’re very far [into] the process, but we still have a long way to go. Definitely feel like we have time to really nail down our prospects in who we are going to go after.”
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Sticking at No. 3 in the upcoming draft gives New England the best odds of adding a potential franchise QB like UNC’s Drake Maye or LSU’s Jayden Daniels.
But if New England is not smitten with whichever signal-caller is available when they land on the clock, de-facto GM Eliot Wolf could secure a haul of draft picks if a team is willing to pay up.
One hypothetical trade scenario involves the Vikings, who have reportedly expressed interest in trading up to No. 3 in search of a quarterback. Minnesota does have two first-round picks (No. 11, No. 23) to deal, and could sweeten the pot with additional draft capital — be it in 2024 or potentially in 2025.
Trading down could allow New England to shore up several areas of the roster with blue-chip prospects, especially on the offensive line and at wide receiver. Still, passing on one of Maye or Daniels stands as a significant gamble.
As for other available avenues to improve New England’s roster, the Patriots have allocated a hefty chunk of their sizable cap space this offseason toward re-signing key contributors like Mike Onwenu, Hunter Henry, Kendrick Bourne, and Kyle Dugger.
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New England has also signed a few playmakers like running back Antonio Gibson and wide receiver K.J. Osborn, but the team’s top target in wideout Calvin Ridley opted to sign a four-year, $92 million deal with the Titans on March 13.
Adding a No. 1 receiver like Ridley would have addressed one critical vacancy on New England’s depth chart ahead of the draft. Still, Mayo stressed that he supports the direction that Wolf and the Patriots have charted out so far this offseason.
“The most important thing for us was to get our people back here. Re-sign our players — the Mike Onwenus of the world. We have some good players that we like to keep and that’s kind of part of the culture that we want to build,” Mayo said. “Obviously, we were disappointed that Ridley went in a different direction, but we’re good. I like the direction that we’re going.”
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