Patriots Predicted to Cut Ties With Polarizing Belichick-Era First-Round Pick

In the 2021 NFL Draft, New England Patriots head coach and general manager Bill Belichick gambled his first round pick on a new quarterback for the franchise. Two years after the departure of Patriots legend and multiple NFL record-holder Tom Brady, Belichick used the 15th overall pick on Alabama quarterback Mac Jones.

Jones was coming off a 2020 season when he led Alabama to a national championship, topped the SEC in passing yards (4,500) completions (311) and passer efficiency rating with 203.1, and placed third in Heisman Trophy voting.

Jones had a rather promising rookie season, with 10 wins while bringing the Patriots back into the playoffs for the first and, so far, only time in the post-Brady era.

Belichick Gambles With First-Round Pick Again

Perhaps emboldened, not realizing the irredeemable bust that Jones would become, Belichick made an even bigger roll of the dice in the 2022 draft.

With the 21st pick in the first round that year, the first thing Belichick would do is trade it away. Belichick moved down in the first round, swapping the 21st pick for the 29th with the Kansas City Chiefs. The Patriots also collected the 94th and 121st overall picks in return.

But Belichick still owned a first-rounder, and when the Patriots’ number came up, he used that pick to take Cole Strange, an offensive left guard from Chattanooga — a school that competes in the second tier of NCAA football, the Football Championship Subdivision, formerly known as Division 1AA.

The pick was baffling to many draft observers, not to mention Patriots fans. Strange was considered a worthwhile prospect, but one worthy of a third-round pick at best.

“This was a huge reach on my board. I thought Strange might sneak into Round 2, but he’s not a first-round talent,” draft expert Mel Kiper said at the time. “I know New England has a hole at guard, but will Strange even start immediately?”

Kiper added that in his forecast, he predicted that Strange would be taken with the 69th overall pick — 40 slots lower than where Belichick selected him.

Strange Likely Playing Final Year in New England

The most widely publicized reaction to Belichick’s selection of Strange came from Los Angeles Rams coach Sean McVay, who laughed out loud during a press conference when told of the pick. But Belichick remained defiant, saying that he would have taken Strange at No. 21, if the Patriots had not traded down with their pick.

The Patriots signed Strange to a $12.255 million contract but unfortunately, the critics were proven largely correct. Strange never really panned out and due to a series of injuries has started only 29 games in his three-year NFL career.

New head coach Mike Vrabel has said that he will give Strange a chance to play center, rather than guard, in the expiring year of the 26-year-old’s contract.

According to veteran Patriots reporter Tom E. Curran of NBC Sports Boston, the Patriots are planning to cut ties with the former first-round pick — though they may see how he performs in his shift to the center position first.

“The 2022 first-rounder is already a man without a country. He played two games last year after having knee surgery in the offseason for an injury he tried to play through in 2023. He’s played 29 of a possible 51 games,” Curran wrote. “The Patriots almost certainly won’t pick up his fifth-year option, so he’s got to make himself relevant at guard or center in a hurry. Great guy. Hardworking. But snakebitten by injury and definitely over-drafted and somewhat undersized.”

Jonathan Vankin JONATHAN VANKIN is an award-winning journalist and writer who now covers baseball and other sports for Heavy.com. He twice won New England Press Association awards for sports feature writing. Vankin is also the author of five nonfiction books on a variety of topics, as well as nine graphic novels including most recently “Last of the Gladiators” published by Dynamite Entertainment. More about Jonathan Vankin