What It Might Take For Pats To Land Justin Fields
Based on his non-committal supportive comments about Cam Newton and Jarrett Stidham on Wednesday, Patriots owner Bob Kraft sounded like someone thinking his team needs fresh blood at the quarterback position.
Of course, he’s leaving that decision up to Bill Belichick.
There are really two options for the Pats if they want to land a franchise quarterback in the first round: they can hope a quarterback they hold in high regard falls to them at No. 15, or they can trade up.
Over at ESPN.com, Todd McShay envisions the Pats going the latter route. And he believes New England would target Ohio State’s Justin Fields, who would be the fifth quarterback picked in this scenario.
First, McShay says the Pats would make a trade with the New York Giants for No. 11. They would have to surrender something in the ballpark of a third-round pick in this year’s draft and a second- or third rounder next year.
Then they would land Fields. Here’s what McShay wrote about Fields:
“Even after the Niners' move up the board, it doesn't appear Jimmy Garoppolo is in the cards this season for the Patriots. And while they brought back Cam Newton, the veteran is only signed for a year at $3.5 million guaranteed. The Pats haven't spent a first-round pick on a QB since 1993 (Drew Bledsoe), but now is the time. Fields is accurate downfield and can develop into a top-tier starter for a team searching for stability at the position in the post-Tom Brady era.”
Seems simple enough, but one has to wonder if Fields will even be on the board at No. 11. He wowed onlookers at his pro day, including representatives from 31 NFL teams, this week -- running a 4.44 40-yard dash, which ESPN reported was the second-fastest combine time by a quarterback ever after Robert Griffin III ran a 4.41 in 2012.
Related: Better or Worse: Breaking Down The Patriots Offense By Position
"Yeah, I think overall, I had a solid day,” Fields told the media after his performance. “Of course, as I think everybody knows, my goal in that 40-yard dash was to be at least in the 4.3s, so of course I'm kind of mad about that. But other than that, I thought I threw pretty well. I thought I just had a few missed throws, but that happens. Not everybody is going to be perfect.”
There might not be any quarterback-hungry teams between the Carolina Panthers at No. 7 and No. 11, but there are a few that could be looking -- like the Pats to move up. The question will be how far one has to go to land Smith or any quarterback that will still be on the board after Trevor Lawrence and Zach Wilson go No. 1 and 2, respectively.
