In addition to adding Stanford safety Jordan Richards and Oklahoma jack-of-all-defensive-trades Geneo Grissom in the second and third rounds of Friday's second day of the 2015 NFL Draft, the Patriots filled out a little bit of a hole in the final day of the team's draft picks via trade.
New England sent the 96th pick overall to the Browns in exchange for the 111th, 147th and 202nd selections. That 147th pick gives New England a fifth-round selection, a round that it did not previously own a pick.
Now, the Patriots can address their remaining needs and pursue the prospects the team likes with what Belichick referred to as good spacing in the selections over the final four rounds.
New England will pick at 101, 111 and 131 in the fourth round; 147 in the fifth; 178 and 202 of the sixth and 253 of the seventh.
"Now we've kind of filled in that fifth round at 147," Belichick said. "It's nice to have seven picks with the time that's remaining."
While 99 players have already come off the board – including the three to the Patriots over the two-day span – Belichick clearly still has his eye on plenty of available prospect options.
"There are a number of players that could still be a positive factor for us," Belichick said. "There are guys we want to pick. Hopefully we'll get some of them."
That opportunity includes the second pick of the reset draft action on Saturday. While the first two days had New England waiting through 31 other teams' picks, Belichick said it was "nice to have the second pick" of the third day and only wait for one team to draft.
After addressing a major perceived need at defensive tackle in the first round, Friday's picks of a safety/special teamer and a developmental edge defender (who also has impressive tight end skills!) leaves Belichick's team with some clear potential holes left to fill.
A starting-caliber guard, a cornerback, a long snapper could all be in the forecast, as could depth at positions such as running back, wide receiver and linebacker.
With seven basically evenly-spaced selections Belichick has the picks to fill those holes or the capital to move around the draft to cherry-pick the guys he has an eye on.
Such options that might still intrigue New England could be Florida State guard Tre Jackson, Navy long snapper, Joe Cardona, Oregon cornerback Ifo Ekpre-Olomu, Michigan State running back Jeremy Langford or Maryland wide receiver Stefon Diggs, just to name a few.
Regardless of the actual targets, though, Belichick made it quite clear in his late Friday night press conference that he liked where his team stood and the options it has in front of it heading into the third day of the 2015 NFL Draft.
