Welcome to first and 10, a roundup of all the (mostly) Patriots-related news you need to start your day:
A couple of quick thoughts to kick off Opening Day...
--The Brandin Cooks deal is being put to bed. The final verdict? As we said Wednesday, a good trade for both sides, as long as you're buying into the Rams' being all-in on a Super Bowl run. I thought it was interesting that Cooks and Jared Goff had already connected earlier this offseason during informal workouts. That's not a huge surprise -- guys from different teams will work out together all the time, especially if they have the same agent -- but it certainly is serendipitous for L.A. It's also worth noting that the two sides had been chatting about a deal like this for a bit, but the details apparently got hammered out when Bill Belichick and Sean McVay were together at a Georgia coaches clinic late last month. You never know when a plan is going to come together.
--Had a blast as part of the nominating committee for the Patriots Hall of Fame at Gillette Stadium on Wednesday afternoon. We kicked around a bunch of names, and there was a pretty good debate as to who should make the ballot and who might not be worthy of the final cut. (For an explanation of the nominating process, click here.) The finalists will be announced soon, but my three votes went to Rodney Harrison, Mike Vrabel and Richard Seymour. (Proud to say this was the second time where I put Harrison's name up for consideration.) I'll have more about why I voted the way I did and the whole process in the weekend notes.
2018 #Patriots HOF Committee meeting complete.
Stay tuned for this year’s @TheHall finalists. pic.twitter.com/EKVJ8emDTg
— New England Patriots (@Patriots) April 4, 2018
Now that Brandin Cooks has been traded does that mean Odell Beckham is in the #Patriots future? @tomecurran broke down the big New England move and what it means for 2018: pic.twitter.com/1OhrLrij4L
— Rich Eisen Show (@RichEisenShow) April 4, 2018
Patriots will love the social media presence of their newest tight end. pic.twitter.com/00XWccEvuj
— Tom E. Curran (@tomecurran) April 4, 2018