{"id":874141,"date":"2026-04-25T05:37:09","date_gmt":"2026-04-25T05:37:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/874141\/"},"modified":"2026-04-25T05:37:09","modified_gmt":"2026-04-25T05:37:09","slug":"new-england-patriots-nfl-draft-2026-guide-picks-predictions-and-key-needs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/874141\/","title":{"rendered":"New England Patriots NFL Draft 2026 guide: Picks, predictions and key needs"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Athletic has live coverage of the 2026 NFL Draft<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The New England Patriots have the 31st pick in the 2026 NFL Draft<\/a> when Round 1 begins April 23 in Pittsburgh. The Patriots own 11 total picks in the seven-round draft.<\/p>\n

Patriots\u2019 draft picks
\n RoundPickOverallNotes<\/p>\n

1<\/p>\n

31<\/p>\n

31<\/p>\n

2<\/p>\n

31<\/p>\n

63<\/p>\n

3<\/p>\n

31<\/p>\n

95<\/p>\n

4<\/p>\n

25<\/p>\n

125<\/p>\n

From Bears<\/p>\n

4<\/p>\n

31<\/p>\n

131<\/p>\n

5<\/p>\n

31<\/p>\n

171<\/p>\n

6<\/p>\n

10<\/p>\n

191<\/p>\n

From Chiefs<\/p>\n

6<\/p>\n

17<\/p>\n

198<\/p>\n

From Vikings<\/p>\n

6<\/p>\n

21<\/p>\n

202<\/p>\n

From Steelers<\/p>\n

6<\/p>\n

31<\/p>\n

212<\/p>\n

7<\/p>\n

31<\/p>\n

247<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Beast\u201d: Dane Brugler\u2019s NFL Draft guide scouts 402 prospects<\/a><\/p>\n

Full draft order<\/p>\n

Every pick in the seven-round NFL Draft<\/a>.<\/p>\n

NFL Draft details<\/p>\n

\u2022 Round 1: April 23, 8 p.m. ET
\u2022 Rounds 2-3: April 24, 7 p.m. ET
\u2022 Rounds 4-7: April 25, noon ET<\/p>\n

About the Patriots<\/p>\n

\u2022 Executive VP of player personnel: Eliot Wolf (third season in this role)
\u2022 Head coach: Mike Vrabel (second season with team)
\u2022 Last year\u2019s record: 14-3 (lost in Super Bowl)<\/p>\n

After last season\u2019s magical run, the outlook has ramped up for the Patriots. The annual expectations of deep playoff runs have returned. That\u2019s for several reasons, but none more important than Mike Vrabel\u2019s arrival and Drake Maye\u2019s emergence. Overall, the roster is good, but not great. An important draft looms as the franchise searches for more cornerstones at premium positions. Three years ago, they landed cornerback Christian Gonzalez in the first round. Maye came in 2024. Then the Pats drafted left tackle Will Campbell last year. They hope to build the team around those players, but the roster still needs work.<\/p>\n

Scouting the decision-makers<\/p>\n

The shotgun marriage between Wolf and Vrabel worked better than anyone could have expected last year. With more clarity about what the head coach was looking for, Wolf\u2019s second draft in charge of the front office was much more successful than his disastrous debut in 2024. While there will be plenty of collaboration in the first three rounds, he\u2019s largely in charge of who gets picked on Day 3. At the end of the day, though, the Patriots are Vrabel\u2019s show, especially after the success of last season, and that isn\u2019t lost on anyone.<\/p>\n

\u2022 The Patriots\u2019 2025 NFL Draft class<\/a><\/p>\n

Patriots\u2019 key free-agent signings<\/p>\n

\u2022 WR Romeo Doubs: Four-year, $80 million deal
\u2022 LG Alijah Vera-Tucker: Three-year, $42 million deal
\u2022 Edge Dre\u2019Mont Jones: Three-year, $39.5 million deal
\u2022 S Kevin Byard: One-year, $8 million deal<\/p>\n

Patriots\u2019 key positions of need<\/p>\n

Edge rusher: The Patriots signed Jones, who brings positional versatility and can play on the inside. He\u2019s a good run stuffer, but the Patriots need more help in the pass rush from the edge spot. Look for them to draft an edge rusher who can get after the quarterback, even if that player is a bit undersized.<\/p>\n

Wide receiver: This is an odd one to include since the assumption around the league is that the Pats will trade for A.J. Brown<\/a> of the Philadelphia Eagles at some point this summer. Until they do, the position remains a need. Perhaps, if the right receiver falls to them at the 31st pick, it could change the likelihood of going after Brown.<\/p>\n

\t \"Photo<\/a> <\/p>\n

Offensive tackle: This isn\u2019t the most immediate need, since New England is content to roll into next season with Campbell at left tackle and Morgan Moses on the right. Moses is 35, however. He\u2019s not a long-term answer. While it\u2019s not a hugely pressing spot at the moment, the Pats would be wise to develop an offensive tackle who could provide depth in 2026 and replace Moses as the starter in 2027.<\/p>\n

Tight end: Hunter Henry has been a nice player for the Patriots, but he\u2019s entering the final year of his contract and will turn 32 next season. Beyond him, the Patriots only have a blocking tight end (Julian Hill) and a couple of low-level options, so this is an immediate need. Ideally, they\u2019ll target a tight end who excels as a receiver to complement Hill.<\/p>\n

Patriots draft analysis<\/p>\n

Patriots big board: 27 players who fit what the team is looking for<\/a><\/p>\n

Dane Brugler\u2019s top 300 from \u2018The Beast\u2019<\/a><\/p>\n

What I\u2019d do if I were in charge of the Patriots<\/a><\/p>\n

The best fits for the Patriots in the 2026 draft<\/a><\/p>\n

What we learned about the Patriots\u2019 draft plans from Eliot Wolf<\/a><\/p>\n

Potential NFL Draft fits we love<\/a><\/p>\n

Patriots big board: 15 players they could pursue in the first three rounds<\/a><\/p>\n

15 prospects who could be fits for the Patriots in the draft<\/a><\/p>\n

The Athletic\u2019s latest mock drafts<\/p>\n

April 22:\u00a0Beat-writer mock draft 3.0<\/a>
This time around, the Pats get UCF edge rusher Malachi Lawrence with pick No. 31.<\/p>\n

April 20: Chad Graff\u2019s final Patriots mock draft<\/a>
Chad projects all seven rounds as he searches for help for Drake Maye and the pass rush.<\/p>\n

April 15: Dane Brugler 7-round mock draft<\/a>
Dane predicts all 257 picks, including Clemson OT Blake Miller to the Pats in Round 1.<\/p>\n

April 9: Patriots 7-round mock draft<\/a>
Chad Graff thinks New England could go after edge rusher T.J. Parker before adding O-line and TE depth.<\/p>\n

April 1: Bruce Feldman mock draft<\/a>
Based on intel from coaches, scouts and agents, Bruce has the Patriots selecting OT Blake Miller.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Athletic has live coverage of the 2026 NFL Draft.\u00a0 The New England Patriots have the 31st pick…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":874142,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[2050],"tags":[7,1167,249,2326,2094,6,208],"class_list":{"0":"post-874141","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-new-england-patriots","8":"tag-football","9":"tag-new-england","10":"tag-new-england-patriots","11":"tag-newengland","12":"tag-newenglandpatriots","13":"tag-nfl","14":"tag-patriots"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/116463734132183129","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/874141","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=874141"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/874141\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/874142"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=874141"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=874141"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=874141"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}