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Connections with past staffers sparked Patriots' trade activity during draft

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. – Two of the primary themes of the New England Patriots’ 2017 draft: (1) a record-low four picks made and (2) connections with former front-office staffers that led to two trades producing top selections Derek Rivers and Antonio Garcia.

It is well documented how much Bill Belichick likes to wheel and deal on draft day, with the team’s four 2017 deals upping Belichick’s draft-day trade total to 63 since he was hired in 2000.

Strong relations with Tennessee Titans general manager Jon Robinson, the Patriots’ former director of college scouting, contributed to the team’s first deal – shipping out a third-round choice (No. 72) and sixth-rounder (No. 200) in exchange for a third-rounder (No. 83) and fourth-rounder (No. 124). The team then took Rivers at No. 83.

Similar dynamics produced the second trade, with the Detroit Lions, in which the Patriots shipped a third-rounder (No. 96) and fourth-rounder (No. 124) to move up in the third round (No. 85) to select Garcia. Bob Quinn, now in his second season as Lions general manager, was the Patriots’ longtime director of pro scouting.

“That really makes it go a lot quicker, no question,” Belichick said of how his background with Robinson and Quinn sparked those deals. “[They’re] both great to deal with.”

Quinn, speaking to reporters in Detroit, provided insight on how the deal with New England went down.

“Those trades are talked about many picks before that – ‘Hey, if my guy is not there at that pick, will you do this trade?’” Quinn explained. “So some of those trades are kind of worked out contingent on the team that’s on the clock: ‘Is your guy there or not?’

“That one was kind of done. It was actually more on the other side, we were waiting for them to kind of say, ‘Yeah, I’ll do it,' or not.”

In all, the Patriots traded down once, traded up twice and made one trade in which they moved down in a swap of picks while acquiring tight end James O’Shaughnessy in the swap.

So for those updating draft-day trade scorecards, Belichick has now made 20 draft-day trades in which he moved up, 22 draft-day trades in which he moved down and 21 draft-day trades involving players.