On Thursday, for the first time since the 2020 NFL season concluded, Bill Belichick spoke to the media.
From Julian Edelman's retirement to the team's free agency signings, there were plenty of topics for the New England Patriots head coach to cover. But of course, the upcoming NFL Draft was at the top of everyone's mind.
Belichick opened up a bit about what it's like preparing for the draft behind the scenes, and some of his answers were eye-opening. Tom E. Curran and Phil Perry broke them all down in a brand new episode of the Patriots Talk Podcast.
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Patriots Talk Podcast: Belichick: The Patriots don’t really have a QB “type” | Listen & Subscribe | Watch on YouTube
One answer that caught Curran and Perry's attention was regarding potentially trading up from No. 15 overall to select a player that may have slid from their projected draft position.
"I’d say normally something would happen and there could very well be a player there that either you don’t expect to be there or maybe he is a couple spots, maybe at 12, 13, he’s still on the board and you really thought that he’d be gone in the top six, seven picks," Belichick said. "Then the question comes, do you move up and try to get that player that’s fallen a little bit? Those are kind of the scenarios you go through."
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Perry believes that Belichick answer, and a few others, may have been hints at a certain quarterback being on the Patriots' radar.
"My number one takeaway is that the Patriots are going to draft Trey Lance," Perry joked. "I say that in jest, but I did find some of [Belichick's] answers interesting, illuminating in some respects. Because we heard him talk about things like how teams should adapt their systems to fit the skillsets of their players, specifically at the quarterback position, how it might be OK to overdraft a quarterback based on your grades if you feel like his potential is good enough.
"And the final thing that reminds me of Trey Lance when I listen to this Belichick back and forth is that the 2019 film for some players is going to be more value than the 2020 film. All Trey Lance has is essentially 2019 film, but he did play one game in 2020 that wasn't awesome."
Also discussed in the new episode: Are the Patriots willing to adapt their style for a new QB? Would Belichick rather have Justin Fields or Mac Jones? How does Belichick feel about the price tag of moving up in the draft? And Belichick on the difficulty of scouting this year.
Check out the latest episode of the Patriots Talk Podcast on the NBC Sports Boston Podcast Network, or watch on YouTube below: