It doesn’t look like the Patriots’ first-round pick is actually available

Because the price is reportedly getting ridiculous

A couple of days ago, I announced that we had made a trade in our SB Nation NFL Mock Draft so that the Minnesota Vikings could select Michigan quarterback J.J. McCarthy at #4 overall. While some thought that the price of moving up. . .three total first-round picks. . .was too much, it appears as though the real world price of moving up in the draft might be getting even higher.

Tom Curran of NBC Sports Boston, who covers the New England Patriots, is reporting that it would take “a lot more” than three first-round picks for the Patriots to move down from #3 overall.

I keep circling back to it’s going to be three first-round picks, meaning Minnesota at 11 and 23 and their first-round pick next year. From what I’m hearing, it’s going to take a lot more than that for the Patriots to be moved off their spot. Because they as a team, collectively, understand the opportunity that these three quarterbacks represent at the top of the Draft.

Three first-round picks is already a heavy price to pay to move up. If the Patriots are going to ask for more than that, hopefully Kwesi Adofo-Mensah and company will politely tell them to go pound sand.

If the New England front office is going to ask for “a lot more” than three first-round picks, that’s basically a signal that their pick isn’t actually available. I’m honestly not sure how much more they could ask for and expect to get it. Sure, they can ask for anything they want, but I don’t think a team is going to be willing to pay that sort of price.

Again, and I can’t stress this enough, if you want to trade up in the NFL Draft, you have to find a team that’s willing to trade down. Asking for “a lot more” than three first-round picks isn’t a sign of that willingness, at least not as far as I can tell.