Patriots Could Make Big NFL Draft Trade Under One Condition

There is a whole lot of deliberation ongoing about what the New England Patriots will do with the No. 4 overall pick of the NFL Draft, especially if both Travis Hunter and Abdul Carter are off the board by the time the Patriots are on the clock.

Despite a huge free-agent spending spree, New England still has plenty of holes to fill, so the Pats won't be able to find a be-all-end-all solution with their one first-round draft choice.

However, Albert Breer of Sports Illustrated is not ruling out the possibility of the Patriots making a trade to acquire an extra first-round selection, but mainly if New England doesn't select an offensive tackle with the fourth overall pick.

"I think if they don’t take [Will] Campbell or Missouri’s Armand Membou, I could see the Patriots trading back into the first round to get someone such as [Josh] Conerly or [Josh] Simmons," Breer wrote.

Both Conerly and Simmons are projected to be late first-round picks, so it stands to reason that the Patriots can address a different position at No. 4 and then trade back into the first round in order to solve their issue at left tackle.

New England laid claim to what was probably the worst offensive line in football this past season, and the only thing the Pats have really done to help repair it thus far was sign right tackle Morgan Moses.

Moses is definitely a solid piece, but the Patriots need more answers, and based on their inability to land anyone else via free agency or trade, you have to figure that New England will look to rectify the glaring problem in the draft later this month.

The Pats could just take Campbell at No. 4 and call it a day, but if they end up having the opportunity to snatch Hunter or Carter, they could do that and then try to move back up in the draft order to select another tackle later on Day 1.