The New England Patriots are a professional American football team based in the Greater Boston metropolitan area. The Patriots compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference East Division. Founded in 1959 as the Boston Patriots, they were a charter member of the American Football League (AFL) and joined the NFL in 1970 following the AFL–NFL merger. The Patriots played their home games at various stadiums throughout Boston, including Fenway Park from 1963 to 1969, until the franchise moved to Foxborough in 1971. As part of the move, the team changed its name to the New England Patriots. Home games were played at Foxboro Stadium until 2002 when the stadium was demolished alongside the opening of Gillette Stadium. The team began utilizing Gillette Stadium for home games the same year.

The NFL draft, officially known as the "NFL Annual Player Selection Meeting", is an annual event which serves as the league's most common source of player recruitment. The draft order is determined based on the previous season's standings; the teams with the worst win–loss records receive the earliest picks. Teams that qualified for the NFL playoffs select after non-qualifiers, and their order depends on how far they advanced, using their regular season record as a tie-breaker. The final two selections in the first round are reserved for the Super Bowl runner-up and champion. Draft picks are tradable and players or other picks can be acquired with them.

Before the merger agreements in 1966, the AFL directly competed with the NFL and held a separate draft. This led to a bidding war over top prospects between the two leagues, along with the subsequent drafting of the same player in each draft. As part of the merger agreement on June 8, 1966, the two leagues began holding a multiple round "common draft". Once the AFL officially merged with the NFL in 1970, the "common draft" simply became the NFL draft. The first AFL draft was held prior to the start of the 1960 season. The first round of the 1960 AFL draft was territorial selections. Each team received a "territorial pick" which allowed them to select a single player within a pre-agreed upon designated region (the team's "territory"). Teams then agreed on the top eight players at each position, who were subsequently assigned to teams by random draw, with each of the eight teams receiving one of those players. This process was repeated until all 53 roster spots were filled. Beginning in the 1961 draft, the AFL, using the same system as the NFL, began to assign picks based on the previous season's standings.

Since the team's first draft, the Patriots have selected 73 players in the first round. The team's first-round pick in the inaugural AFL draft was Gerhard Schwedes, a halfback out of Syracuse; he was the team's territorial selection. The Patriots have selected first overall five times, drafting Jack Concannon in 1964, Jim Plunkett in 1971, Kenneth Sims in 1982, Irving Fryar in 1984, and Drew Bledsoe in 1993. In the most recent draft, held in 2026, the Patriots selected Utah offensive tackle Caleb Lomu.

The Patriots did not draft a player in the first round on eight occasions. Four of the team's first-round picks—John Hannah, Mike Haynes, Ty Law, and Richard Seymour—have been inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. The Patriots used four first-round picks in the 1960s to select players—Gary Collins, Jack Concannon, Tommy Mason, and Jerry Rush—who chose to sign with the NFL instead.

Player selections

+ Key Symbol Meaning Inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame * Selected number one overall

Position abbreviations C Center CB Cornerback DB Defensive back DE Defensive end DT Defensive tackle FL Flanker G Guard HB Halfback LB Linebacker NT Nose tackle QB Quarterback RB Running back T Tackle TE Tight end WR Wide receiver

+New England Patriots first-round draft picks Season Pick Player Position College Notes 1960 Territorial HB Syracuse First round was territorial selections 1961 2 RB Tulane Signed for the NFL's Minnesota Vikings instead 1962 6 FL Maryland Signed for the NFL's Cleveland Browns instead 1963 7 WR Boston College 1964 1 * QB Boston College Moved up draft order in trade with Denver Broncos. Signed for the NFL's Philadelphia Eagles instead. 1965 7 DT Michigan State Signed for the NFL's Detroit Lions instead 1966 3 T Purdue 1967 21 DB Purdue 1968 6 DE NC State 1969 6 WR Florida State 1970 4 DT Utah State 1971 1 * QB Stanford 1972 Original pick sent to Minnesota Vikings. Pick received from Los Angeles Rams and traded to New York Giants. 1973 4 G Alabama 11 RB USC Pick received from Los Angeles Rams 19 WR Purdue Pick received from Chicago Bears 1974 Pick traded to San Francisco 49ers 1975 16 TE Oregon 1976 5 CB Arizona State 12 C Colorado Pick received from San Francisco 49ers 21 DB Ohio State Pick received from San Francisco 49ers 1977 16 CB Texas Pick received from San Francisco 49ers 25 WR Tennessee 1978 18 G Alabama 1979 25 DB South Carolina 1980 14 DB Tennessee 25 RB Notre Dame Pick received from Houston Oilers 1981 19 T Stanford 1982 1 * DE Texas 27 NT Miami (FL) Pick received from San Francisco 49ers 1983 15 QB Illinois 1984 1 * WR Nebraska Moved up draft order in trade with Cincinnati Bengals using pick received from Los Angeles Raiders 1985 28 C BYU Moved down draft order in trade with San Francisco 49ers 1986 26 RB SMU 1987 23 T Louisville 1988 17 RB Northwestern State 1989 16 WR Oklahoma State 1990 8 LB Arizona Moved down draft order in trade with Seattle Seahawks 10 DE NC State Pick received from Seattle Seahawks 1991 11 T USC Moved down draft order in trade with Dallas Cowboys 14 RB Arizona State Moved up draft order in trades with Houston Oilers and Dallas Cowboys 1992 13 G Virginia Tech Moved down draft order in trade with Atlanta Falcons then up draft order in trade with Dallas Cowboys 1993 1 * QB Washington State 1994 4 DE USC 1995 23 CB Michigan 1996 7 WR Ohio State 1997 29 DB Kansas State 1998 18 RB Georgia Pick received from New York Jets 22 DB Syracuse 1999 17 C Boston College Moved up draft order in trade with Seattle Seahawks 28 LB Ohio State Pick received from New York Jets 2000 Pick traded to New York Jets 2001 6 DE Georgia 2002 21 TE Colorado Moved up draft order in trade with Washington Redskins 2003 13 DE Texas A&M Original pick traded to Baltimore Ravens. Pick received from Buffalo Bills then used to move up draft order in trade with Chicago Bears. 2004 21 NT Miami (FL) Pick received from Baltimore Ravens 32 TE Georgia 2005 32 G Fresno State 2006 21 RB Minnesota 2007 24 DB Miami (FL) Original pick traded to San Francisco 49ers. Pick received from Seattle Seahawks. 2008 10 LB Tennessee Original pick forfeited. Pick received from San Francisco 49ers. 2009 Moved down draft order in trades with Baltimore Ravens and Green Bay Packers 2010 27 DB Rutgers Moved down draft order in trades with Denver Broncos and Dallas Cowboys 2011 17 T Colorado Original pick traded to New Orleans Saints. Pick received from Oakland Raiders. 2012 21 DE Syracuse 25 LB Alabama Pick received from New Orleans Saints 2013 Moved down draft order in trade with Minnesota Vikings 2014 29 DT Florida 2015 32 DT Texas 2016 Pick forfeited 2017 Pick traded to New Orleans Saints 2018 23 T Georgia Pick received from Los Angeles Rams 31 RB Georgia 2019 32 WR Arizona State 2020 Moved down draft order in trade with Los Angeles Chargers 2021 15 QB Alabama 2022 29 G Chattanooga Moved down draft order in trade with Kansas City Chiefs 2023 17 DB Oregon Moved down draft order in trade with Pittsburgh Steelers 2024 3 QB North Carolina 2025 4 T LSU 2026 28 T Utah

See also History of the New England Patriots List of New England Patriots seasons

Notes

References