Could Patriots trade down and still draft Mac Jones replacement?

Zack Rosenblatt of The Athletic isn't so sure the New England Patriots will spend the No. 3 pick of the upcoming NFL Draft on a replacement for quarterback Mac Jones. 

Rosenblatt predicts that the Las Vegas Raiders will trade with New England to move up from No. 13 to No. 3 so that Vegas can take LSU signal-caller Jayden Daniels. Rosenblatt also thinks the Patriots could sign Jacoby Brissett of the Washington Commanders in free agency and then grab Oregon Ducks quarterback Bo Nix at some point during the draft. 

"There’s some buzz that de facto Patriots general manager Eliot Wolf wants to accumulate draft capital and build up the roster — it’s a bad roster — so trading down and picking up a bunch of picks in the present and future wouldn’t be a bad idea," Rosenblatt explained. 

On Tuesday, Dane Brugler of The Athletic reported that he heard from "one league source" who said that Wolf "wants to stockpile draft picks" after the Patriots finished this past season at 4-13.

Brissett originally entered the NFL when the Patriots made him a third-round draft pick in the spring of 2016, and he played under current New England offensive coordinator Alex Van Pelt with the Cleveland Browns during the 2022 season. ESPN NFL insider Adam Schefter previously reported that the Patriots could sign either Brissett or Joe Flacco to serve as a temporary starter, but the Minnesota Vikings may swoop in for Flacco assuming Kirk Cousins leaves Minnesota.

It's unclear exactly how high teams are on Nix following the combine. In a mock draft updated on Wednesday, Chris Trapasso of CBS Sports predicted that the Denver Broncos will, thanks to a trade, land Nix at pick No. 17. Earlier in the week, ESPN's Jordan Reid mocked Nix to the New York Giants via a second-round choice. 

As for Jones, he's reportedly worth little as a tradeable asset but likely needs to get away from New England as much as the Patriots seemingly want to move on from him. Nix may never be a long-term answer at the position, but drafting him and having him sit behind somebody such as Brissett would allow New England to reset its quarterback clock under new head coach Jerod Mayo.