NFL Draft: Would the Patriots Consider Trading Up For AJ Green?
Over the years, the New England Patriots have become known for controlling the NFL Draft with their trading of picks. Every year, it seems as if it’s ground hog day. They constantly have a plethora of selections in each round, and masterfully manages to acquire future picks. Could this year be different for them? ESPN’s Draft analyst, Mel Kiper seems to think so. During a live chat, when posed the question of the best option for New England at 17, Kiper had this to say:
"“Ayers will be in the mix. I would think they look at a 3-4 DE like Cameron Jordan. I keep hearing that they might move up to get AJ Green. You could imagine putting Green on that team with that offense and those TEs they brought in last year and Welker and the backs they have. You’d be looking at a lethal offense.”"
Obviously, this caught fire and excited Patriots fans. The organization is very secretive, so we won’t know if this is true. If it is, they definitely have the ammunition to execute the move. Lets assume they’ll have to move up to 6th (1600 points) to get Green. According to our NFL Draft Trade Value Chart, the 17th and 28th picks together are wroth 1660 points.
A.J. Green is a dynamic down field threat. After trading away Randy Moss, the Patriots had little success down the field. Like Kiper states, adding Green to that offense would instantly make it lethal, maybe indefensible. I’m not a Patriots fan, but this news has managed to make me even more excited for the Draft, and that’s hard to do.