A few Patriots-related thoughts from Wednesday’s Q&A’s with NFL coaches and GMs

The combine kicked off Wednesday with press conferences involving coaches and GMs. Bill Belichick and Nick Caserio didn't address the media, but there were still plenty of Patriots-related takeaways. Here are a few thoughts:



-- Pittsburgh GM Kevin Colbert was asked about the Antonio Brown situation, and indicated no team was off limits when it came to the possibility of dealing the receiver. In this context, it’s important to remember that New England and Pittsburgh have next-to-no record of trades since Belichick took over in 2000. The Patriots and Steelers have made two deals in that time — in all, Pittsburgh has been one of the Patriots least-favorite trade partners. None of this is to suggest New England and Pittsburgh couldn’t pull off a deal. It’s just that, given the history, it seems unlikely.

-- Of course, the other side of the coin here is that one of Belichick’s best buds — Mike Mayock — has become general manager of the Raiders. Given the depth of Belichick’s friendship with Mayock (he not only played for him in New York, he also carried water for the coach when it came to Ryan Mallett), I’d expect the Foxborough-to-Oakland pipeline to open again. The interesting thing here? Historically, the Raiders have been Belichick’s favorite trade partner — New England has made more deals with Oakland than any other franchise since 2000. (Most of that was because of Belichick’s closeness with Al Davis.) An interesting situation, especially given the fact the Raiders have three first-rounders this year.

“I was fortunate enough to play for Coach Belichick for a couple of years and he’s been great to me over the years,” Mayock said. “(However), I’m guessing that at this point, as good a relationship as we have, there probably won’t be quite the free exchange of information as in the past.”

-- The Eagles will not be tagging Nick Foles this offseason, which means the quarterback — who was most recently responsible for helping lift the Patriots to the No. 2 seed in the AFC playoff picture — will now be a free agent. I wouldn’t necessarily connect Foles to New England, but it’s the latest move on the quarterback market that could set the stage for an interesting few months. Foles, Teddy Bridgewater, Tyrod Taylor, and Ryan Fitzpatrick are all set to become free agents next month. Meanwhile, if you called John Elway, you could probably have Case Keenum for next to nothing. (Not to mention the fact that because of new coaches and/or GMs, the likes of Ryan Tannehill, Josh Rosen or Derek Carr could be on the move if the price is right.) And the draft will also have a number of really intriguing prospects, including Kyler Murray, Dwayne Haskins, Drew Lock, and Daniel Jones. One thing we’ve learned over the years when it comes to the Patriots: they’re not going to use a high-value pick on a quarterback just because conventional wisdom says they have to — they have to really like the guy. Not saying they’re in love with any of the names here. It’s just to suggest there are more possibilities than usual for them to consider.

--Two new coaches with different connections to New England — Brian Flores and Kliff Kingsbury — discussed how their time with the Patriots helped shape their coaching philosophy.

“Being around Tom (Brady) and Bill and the way they operate, the level of preparation, the competitiveness at practice, those are all things that stay with you for life when you’ve been in that building,” said Kingsbury, who said both Brady and Belichick texted him congratulations after he landed Arizona job. “That’s kind of the mountaintop of preparation and competitiveness. You can see what they win so much.”

For his part, Flores sounded an awful lot like his old boss when asked about his focus as the leader of the Dolphins.

“I think last year is last year,” Flores said. “If we focus on last year, then we’re not focused on this year. I would hate to take away from this year’s team and focus on whatever happened a year ago.

“If I’m copying Bill, then I guess I’m copying Bill in that situation.”

“Right now my vision is really focused on this week and the players in this draft, trying to get to know these guys,” Flores said. “And again, this part of the process is so vital, so important as far as getting to know these players, their strengths, their weaknesses, how they fit with our team. And then we’ll get to that play-calling, who’s doing this when we get to that. Obviously, that’s something you’re working towards also. Right now, the focus right now is on these players at the combine.”