Patriots wanted to draft specific WR before Browns swiped him
New England got beat to the punch on this one.
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.