On Day 1 of the 2024 NFL draft, the New England Patriots were working the phones trying to move around from their original second-round pick at No. 34 overall.
While they ended up moving back to No. 37 in a trade with the Los Angeles Chargers, they reportedly felt they had a trade in place to move up to No. 28 overall to select a wideout.
According to NFL Network's Cameron Wolfe, New England believed they had a trade agreed to with the Buffalo Bills, but the division rivals eventually traded with the Carolina Panthers.
"I talked with someone with the Patriots who felt a little jaded because they thought that they had sort of… close to an agreement with the Bills," Wolfe said on "Patriots Daily Podcast" with Taylor Kyles. "And they believe that agreement was kind of shopped to the Panthers. Because the Panthers have a relationship with Dan Morgan, Brandon Beane...
But ultimately, [the Patriots] ended up not getting up there… and so their top two [Keon] Coleman and [Xavier] Legette both go picked… you hear all the time, ‘Hey we got the guy we wanted, he was gonna be our pick no matter what.’ That wasn’t the case here. The Patriots would’ve loved to have Keon Coleman or Xavier Legette — it did not work that way.”
The Bills sent their pick to Kansas City, who drafted Xavier Worthy and then moved out of No. 32, allowing the Panthers to draft Xavier Legette. Buffalo took Coleman at No. 33.
New England did end up selecting a wide receiver in the second round, Washington's Ja'Lynn Polk, but because they were willing to move back to take him, it's clear that he wasn't the guy they had to leave the draft with.
Polk can still be an impact player in the Patriots' offense, but Jerod Mayo, Eliot Wolf and company will ask what could've been for a while, especially if Coleman or Legette end up being studs.
