Patriots wanted to draft specific WR before Browns swiped him

Patriots wanted to draft specific WR before Browns swiped him originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.

The NFL Draft is clearly nothing like a fantasy football draft.

There is one overlap, though. Teams can have players they really want taken before it gets to their pick.

That may have happened with the New England Patriots during the first round of the 2026 NFL Draft.

According to ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler, the Pats had interest in Texas A&M wide receiver KC Conecpcion. But the Cleveland Browns snagged Concepcion at the 24th pick.

That was before the Patriots’ scheduled pick at 31 — which they ended up trading up from to 28 to select offensive lineman Caleb Lomu.

“Eventual No. 24 pick KC Concepcion was a hot name,” Fowler writes. “Had he slipped past Cleveland, New England was believed to be one of many teams that thought highly of him.”

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The Patriots ended up not drafting a single wide receiver. That seems to point to at least some confidence that a trade for Eagles wideout A.J. Brown will eventually get done.

Fowler did add in his new article that a Brown deal didn’t totally impact this draft for New England, though.

“As one team source pointed out, the Patriots have nothing binding with the Philadelphia Eagles and A.J. Brown,” Fowler writes. “No firm agreement is in place. Now, could there be a wink-wink understanding? Certainly. But New England was free to make a move for a receiver, and it was on its radar in the first two rounds. A rival team picking late in the first believed that to be true.”

Thus, the interest in Concepcion. But that didn’t come together, and at this point, a Brown trade still seems quite logical and possible.