In his first two years after taking over as head of the New England Patriots’ personnel department, Eliot Wolf had a fairly simple job in the first round of the NFL Draft. All he had to do was make the obvious choice, a task made even easier by his team’s position: the Patriots were third on the clock in 2024 and fourth in 2025.
Fast forward to 2026, and Wolf and company enter the draft under completely different circumstances. As the reigning AFC champions and Super Bowl runner-ups, they are now
set to select 31st overall on Thursday night.
Naturally, most subsequent picks also come fairly late in their rounds compared to the last couple of years. In all, the Patriots’ 2026 draft portfolio looks like this:
- Round 1: No. 31
- Round 2: No. 63
- Round 3: No. 95
- Round 4: No. 125 (from Bears, via Chiefs)
- Round 4: No. 131
- Round 5: No. 171
- Round 6: No. 191 (from Chiefs)
- Round 6: No. 198 (from Vikings, via Texans, Vikings and 49ers)
- Round 6: No. 202 (from Steelers)
- Round 6: No. 212
- Round 7: No. 224
Owners of 11 total picks, the Patriots have strength in numbers. In fact, only the Pittsburgh Steelers (12) own more selections heading into Thursday, with New England sharing second place with the Miami Dolphins, Baltimore Ravens and Jacksonville Jaguars.
However, there a distinction between quantity and quality when it comes to the value of a team’s draft capital has to be made. A first-round selection, which allows for the opportunity to select some of the top talent in the class, is a far more important asset than a later-round pick.
The Patriots have a lot of those late-rounders, including four in the sixth round alone. As a consequence of that and being slated to draft toward the tail end of every single round, the overall value of New England’s portfolio is relatively small: after ranking near the top of the league in 2024 and 2025, the team is now below average in all five of the major value charts.
If we combine the five separate rankings, we can see that the Patriots’ draft capital is on average ranked 20th in the league. There are some minor differences depending on the value chart used, however.
The classic Jimmy Johnson chart as well as the modified version by Pats Pulpit’s own Rich Hill both have New England ranked 24th in the NFL. The other three, meanwhile, think higher of the club’s collection of picks: the Chase Stuart chart has the Patriots 20th, with Over the Cap and Pro Football Focus ranking them 15th and 16th, respectively.
Through all of this, it becomes clear that Eliot Wolf and the Patriots are in a more challenging position capital-wise than they were in 2024 and 2025. Nonetheless, they do have the means of moving up and down the board; owning a lot of picks is still not a bad thing regardless of where they are positioned.
At the end of the day, it’s about how they are used.
