3 Draft-Day Trades the Patriots Can Make Using the No. 3 Pick

New York Giants

Giants Receive: No. 3 pick, 2025 4th round pick, QB Bailey Zappe

Patriots Receive: No. 6 pick, No. 107 pick, 2025 1st round pick, 2026 1st round pick, 2026 3rd round pick, QB Daniel Jones

Who’s ready to get weird?

This trade has a lot of moving parts, and it’d take some convincing for either side to bite. You don’t often see a deal involving four first-round picks and two veteran quarterbacks, especially between these two teams.

But, the more you look, the more it makes sense. New York is giving up a lot, but they’re putting themselves in position to draft a face-of-the-franchise type while also moving off Daniel Jones. Jones has yet to show much of anything with the Giants, and recorded just two touchdowns to six interceptions before suffering a season-ending injury in 2023. To make matters worse, the Giants inked Jones to a four-year, $160 million contract before the start of the 2023 season, keeping Jones and New York attached at the hip no matter how poorly he performs.

Enter New England. The Patriots have a lot of cap space, a lengthy rebuild ahead, and an open opportunity for Jones to rehabilitate his career. They make perfect sense as a partner for the Giants to offload Jones’s contract, and, worst comes to worst, they could cut him after 2025 with just over $40 million in dead cap remaining. 

If the Giants feel like one of the top QBs is a game-changer, they’d be remiss not to make this move. Picks can be recovered, but missing out on a franchise quarterback lasts forever. Yes, it would cost a lot, but moving forward with a franchise QB and no Daniel Jones contract is infinitely better than moving forward with Daniel Jones and no franchise QB. It’s a deal that works out for everybody.

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