The Patriots are now positioned at the top of the 2025 NFL Draft order following this weekend’s results. Both New England and the Giants hold 3-13 records, but the Giants have dropped to fourth in the draft standings. With one game left in their 2024 season against the Buffalo Bills, the Patriots are in control of securing the No. 1 overall pick if they lose. CLNS Media's Taylor Kyles and SI's Mike Kadlick discuss.
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SportsTranscript
00:00What's going on everyone, Mike Kadlik, Taylor Kyles here for CLNS Media, back with another
00:08emergency edition of the Patriots Daily Podcast, powered by PrizePix, powered by GameTime,
00:14and now potentially, Taylor, powered by the number one overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft.
00:20Yep, you heard that correctly.
00:22Yesterday's Giants win over the Indianapolis Colts currently puts the Patriots in the number
00:27one overall slot in the 2025 NFL Draft.
00:31So Taylor, let's talk about it.
00:33Let's look at the Patriots options, the race to number one, if it's actually possible,
00:37and how this whole thing can get going here.
00:39So first and foremost, Patriots control their own destiny right now.
00:43If they lose to the Buffalo Bills next weekend, they will select first overall.
00:48If they lose, there's a chance they fall all the way out of the top four.
00:51I think it depends on tonight's game between the Lions and the 49ers.
00:56There's some sort of like strength of schedule situation there.
01:00I'm not smart enough to understand all that.
01:02All I know is if they lose, they do have the number one overall pick.
01:06Now we just spoke to Gerard Mayo a few minutes ago, and he was asked straight up if there's
01:09a situation where they could sit Drake May this weekend to protect him, to keep him healthy
01:14heading into the next season.
01:16He said everything's on the table, but he was also asked about the number one pick in
01:20itself saying that their sole focus this week is on beating the Buffalo Bills.
01:25So with all that information, with what we've learned, Taylor, is there a situation where
01:29the Patriots can tank this thing and lose on purpose?
01:32Do you think that's at all possible?
01:34I'll give it quickly.
01:35I don't.
01:36I think that makes all this unprofessionalism from the Patriots this season look worse.
01:40But understanding where this team could be, Drake May, quarterback, all this cash base,
01:47potentially number one overall pick.
01:49What do you make of it?
01:50What do they do?
01:51And what are your thoughts on the situation as a whole?
01:53Yeah, Gerard Mayo is not in a position to do anything where it looks like he is tanking.
01:59That said, I do think that shutting Drake May down should still be on the table because
02:05I don't think that necessarily is tanking.
02:06I think you just saw the kid take a hit to the head last week, possibly get a concussion,
02:11which would have been technically the second one.
02:13Now, obviously, Drake said that he didn't think he was actually concussed last time,
02:16but still, that's what the medical professional said, so that's what we have to go on.
02:19And obviously, with these kinds of things, we have to take it seriously.
02:22So if you're saying, hey, is one more game of reps against backups worth potentially
02:27Drake getting hurt?
02:28I don't think it is.
02:30I really don't.
02:31And the thing is, the only way I'd argue against that would be that Drake didn't have a great
02:35game last week.
02:36And honestly, it was the second week in a row where he was a little bit shaky.
02:40Now, in Buffalo, you can understand because the weather wasn't great.
02:43He's not really used to playing in conditions like that, needs to get used to it because
02:46he's going to be playing in them quite a bit, especially if the Patriots end up turning
02:49it around and there are some playoffs in Foxboro or what have you.
02:52But then last game, he kind of understood as well because it's a short week.
02:57I'm not trying to make excuses for the kid here or anything, but he kind of understood
03:01it was a blowout, just kind of a really weird game.
03:03Nobody really ever got any momentum going, even though it felt like his eyes weren't
03:07in the right place at times.
03:08There were some errant throws, just more discouraging plays than you're used to from Drake May.
03:14So I would like him to end on more of a high note, maybe be able to correct those things.
03:18So if you give him a half, honestly, I'd be cool with that.
03:21I think you can get out of the game by saying, okay, we want to get Drake May some positive
03:25momentum to close the season, but we also want to see what some other guys on our roster
03:28can do.
03:29I think that's perfectly fine because the season is lost.
03:32Rod Mayo has said they want to see their young talent perform.
03:35This is literally the opportunity.
03:37Can Jalen Polk, Javon Baker, Joe Milton, who hasn't gotten an opportunity to play, obviously
03:42show something against backups during the regular season.
03:46So you have some idea of what you're going to carry in to 2025.
03:51I know that I said last week that I thought them winning to close out was what they should
03:56be doing.
03:57And I did feel that way.
03:58But when you get blown out by the Chargers and now you're playing backups, I know that
04:03the team shouldn't necessarily think this way, but the way I see it is, hell yeah, try
04:06to lock up that number one pick because I don't think that you're going to get any significant
04:12goodwill back if you do play all of your starters the entire game and beat up on the
04:17backups.
04:18I think it would have been a nice cherry on top if you beat the Chargers or if it was
04:20close.
04:21But now I feel like it would just kind of be tone deaf to be like, oh yeah, now we got
04:26to take it to these backups.
04:27Like, nah, man, last week was really, really bad and no one's going to be forgetting anytime
04:31soon.
04:32And we never thought that Drew Locke and the Giants were going to beat Indy yesterday.
04:35So we never really thought that this was a serious option.
04:38It was, you know, second pick to maybe fourth or fifth pick, depending on how the rest of
04:42the league takes out.
04:43But now you have a legitimate chance to use this asset and continue to rebuild this team
04:48that has been decrepit over the last couple of seasons.
04:51So I still think it's difficult to go out there and sit your franchise quarterback when
04:58it looks like you're tanking and trying to lose.
05:02Now, if they go out there, again, there's a difference between saving Drake May and
05:06saving the health of Drake May and going out there and like taking a knee for three quarters
05:11when you're down by 10 points and like openly trying to lose.
05:15Where if you just put out your developmental players and they're still, you know, working
05:20their ass off to try and play football, that's fair game.
05:22Like that's that's different than tanking and purposely, you know, I think about in
05:26basketball, like missing shots or like breaking free throws on purpose and things like that.
05:30Like that's hard to do in football.
05:32That's never going to happen.
05:33But I get hurt if football, if you don't try, you'll get run over, you'll get bulldozed
05:38or whatever.
05:39You'll get hit real hard.
05:40And if you're not competitive, you know, that could just lead to injury.
05:42So it's smart or not to.
05:44Exactly.
05:45And so Drodd Mayo at least leaves it open this morning.
05:48Drake May could.
05:49He says all options are on the table for potentially setting him.
05:52He was also asked about Joe Milton and said that that's a possibility that he could potentially
05:56be elevated this week as well.
05:57So we'll see what happens there.
05:59But that is the situation of Foxborough, at least right now.
06:02As we know, that can always change.
06:05So if the Patriots do land this number one overall pick this week, they do lose to the
06:09Bills or they win and something else happens and they do have number one.
06:13What are your thoughts on what they should do with it, Taylor?
06:15I hear stick and pick Travis Hunter.
06:18I joked on Twitter yesterday, stick and pick a tackle in Kelvin Banks.
06:21Obviously, I was joking and trying to to rile up the masses, as I tend to do.
06:26But it's a situation where, on one hand, you can sit there and just, you know, you
06:31don't need a quarterback, but you take the best prospect you deem you think is available
06:35because you do not have a ton of blue chip talent on this team.
06:39It is a relatively weak draft class compared to years past.
06:42So there's an argument to stick and pick a guy like Travis Hunter, even one of the tackles
06:46or a wide receiver other than him, Ted McMillan, etc.
06:50Or you have a real opportunity to call up those QB needy teams, the Giants that we mentioned,
06:55the Raiders.
06:56And, you know, both of those guys could want or both of those teams could want a guy in
06:59Shadar Sanders or Cam Ward from Miami.
07:01And you could end up potentially getting a serious haul, maybe another first round pick
07:05next year or something like that.
07:07You know, one of their second round picks.
07:09You can really turn this into a batch of quality dark throws in the NFL draft.
07:14So where do you currently stand, Taylor?
07:15What are your thoughts on it?
07:16What do you think the Patriots should do?
07:18And if they do land number one, what do you think they will ultimately do?
07:21There are two big things I want to outline first.
07:24One, because this isn't a very top heavy class, like there's not a lot of true blue
07:28chip talents at the top where there's not a lot of things that worry you about them.
07:32They're surefire, like Pro Bowl, all pros, not a ton of those.
07:36So they're going to trade.
07:37I don't know.
07:38They're going to get a huge package like I don't know how far they're even going to be
07:41able to move.
07:42And because of that, I don't know if you're necessarily going to get a future first and
07:46a second round pick like that kind of hole necessarily.
07:48It might just be, hey, try your best to get another first or first round pick if you can.
07:53If not, maybe settle for a second and a third, something along those lines.
07:56That's the situation.
07:57I don't want to move too far back.
07:59Exactly.
08:00Exactly.
08:01Now, if you move, honestly, I'm OK with moving to like nine or something like that.
08:05And this is all dependent on what I say next.
08:07But if they move to nine and you do get a hole where you get like second and third this
08:11year, a first next year, you know, another pick next year in the top 100, then I'm listening.
08:16Because again, I don't think there's enough blue chip talents at the top where I'm like,
08:20ah, I have to stay locked in.
08:21Maybe that'll change as I watch more of these guys, but I just don't really feel that way.
08:25Now also, I think obviously the draft to some degree is going to be informed by what happens
08:30in free agency.
08:31Now, I want them to leave free agency with no glaring holes so they can go best player
08:36available.
08:37Because if you are able to sign Cam Robinson or Aleric Jackson, you sign Trey Smith, you
08:41sign T. Higgins, and the offense really has no massive gaps in it.
08:46And then defensively, maybe you sign one or two starting caliber difference making defensive
08:50lineman.
08:51Then I feel like you go into the draft and you really can have your pick of, okay, I
08:55really like this player.
08:56This is a blue chip guy, whether that's Travis Hunter, whether that's Abdul Carter, you can
09:00fire away.
09:01Right.
09:02But you got to fill those premium spots in free agency as best you can, because if, say,
09:05you get Darius Slayton, but you don't get T. Higgins, it's like, all right, Slayton
09:08gives you more juice, but then you might have to try to stay in range to get a tech McMillan
09:13because I just don't think you're going to be able to get another quality receiver with
09:17that skill set.
09:18So I think again, free agency is going to dictate what exactly their needs are entering
09:21the draft.
09:22You would like to be able to go best player available, but there's also some level of
09:26like you have to acknowledge if you have one massive hole on one side of the ball or the
09:30other, but trading down, if they keep number one has to be it.
09:33I don't think there's anybody who's worth you staying at number one and not trying to
09:36get something else out of this board.
09:38And then if you do have a successful free agency and people draw Mayo stays and people
09:42take them seriously enough to actually want to sign with the team and believe in whatever
09:46his messaging is, then obviously that gives you a lot more options come May, April, April,
09:52end of April, early bag.
09:54That's kind of why I went to the month that was so risky.
09:57I was like, don't do that, Taylor.
09:58And I just did it.
09:59And I, every time I write something about the NFL draft and I look, I'm like, is it
10:03April?
10:04Is it May?
10:05I never remember where we're at.
10:06It used to be end of May.
10:07They are beginning of May.
10:08They've kind of switched around, but long story short Patriots as of right now sitting
10:12with that number one overall pick.
10:13And you wonder too, like where ownership, what ownership thinks of the entire situation
10:18right now?
10:19Do they keep draw Mayo?
10:20Do they keep Elliot Wolf?
10:22Do they completely clear house?
10:24Cause, and now I agree with you for the most part, as far as Elliot Wolf goes where I don't
10:29think he's done anything egregious enough to deserve to be fired after one season.
10:33They gave him the the vice president of player personnel title this off season.
10:38I think he deserves the right to continue to try and rebuild this where Gerard Mayo,
10:43you wonder if he deserves the right after how things have gone this season.
10:46But at the same time, when you have this number one overall pick and the ability to turn this
10:51into a potential hall and really revamp this team, ownership's going to have to look themselves
10:56in the mirror and think, do we trust Elliot Wolf to do all of this as well?
11:00So I think they will.
11:02I think he'll ultimately be the man in charge, but we will have to see what happens again.
11:06Patriots as of right now, hold on to the number one overall pick in the 2025 NFL draft.
11:11If they lose to Buffalo next weekend, they will continue with that into the spring.
11:15So it all comes down to week 18.
11:18Patriots taking on the Buffalo Bills in Fox for 1 p.m. kickoff next Sunday.
11:22Myself and Taylor will be there and we will be here all week on Patriots press pass, giving
11:26you all the news notes, film, what have you as the Patriots finished up the season.
11:32So make sure you keep it here, rate review and subscribe to the channel, to the podcast.
11:36And until next time, take care of yourselves, take care of each other, and we will see you
11:39all next time.
11:40Peace out, everyone.