Bill Belichick added an extra Day 3 pick on Monday afternoon.
New England dealt a fifth-round pick to Houston for a sixth and seventh rounder, according to ESPN’s Adam Schefter. The Patriots had a pair of fifth-round picks after the Shaq Mason and DeVante Parker deals, so they’ve sent one of those to Nick Caserio.
That means New England is up to nine picks in the draft, which begins Thursday night. They now have a pick in every round and three in the sixth.
The Patriots could target a linebacker in the first round, but on a predraft conference call, director of player personnel Matt Groh said that’s not the only place they’re trying to find more quickness in 2022.
“Without a doubt, we’re looking to get faster everywhere,” Groh said. “It’s not just defense. It’s offense. It’s special teams. It’s not just linebacker.
“There’s gonna be different players all across the league who are considered linebackers, whether they’re there converting from a different position in college, safety to linebacker or whatnot. That’s certainly one way to get speed on the field, is just using some of these guys differently. Just the caliber of athlete that you can get, the size, the speed. These days, you can put these guys all over the place and that’s certainly one way to increase the overall speed of the defense.”
STEELERS: Pittsburgh is bringing back safety Terrell Edmunds on a one-year deal worth $2.5 million.
Pittsburgh drafted Edmunds in the first round in 2018, but declined to exercise his fifth-year option last spring. He put together a solid 2021, picking off two passes and finishing with 89 tackles in 17 games.
The signing actually saved the Steelers more than $4 million based on what the value of Edmunds’ fifth-year option would have been had they picked it up.
COURT: A judge postponed a hearing in a felony assault case involving two NFL players and two other men accused of severely beating a man at a Las Vegas nightclub the weekend of the Pro Bowl.
Attorneys for New Orleans Saints running back Alvin Kamara, Kansas City Chiefs cornerback Chris Lammons and two other defendants, Darrin Young and Percy Harris, asked for more time to review evidence recently turned over by prosecutors.
The four men did not have to appear in court in person while Justice of the Peace Harmony Letizia set a new date Aug. 1. Each man remains free on bond.
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