Welcome to first and 10, a roundup of all the (mostly) Patriots-related news you need to start your Tuesday. Grab your coffee and let’s get to it.
A few quick notes while we remind you someone is celebrating a birthday Tuesday...
--Shout-out to Tedy Bruschi, who finished his third marathon on Monday, part of his continuing efforts to raise funds for stroke awareness and heart disease.
--Monday marked the first day back at work for the Patriots, who put some time in the bubble and the weight room as they kicked off Phase One of the offseason program.
--With the players back in town, we're scheduled to hear from a few of them in the coming weeks. Matthew Slater is scheduled to kick things off Tuesday at 1 p.m.
Now, on with the links…
1. Last week, Bill Belichick talked about the possibility of maneuvering up the draft board to jump ahead of another like-minded team that might have eyes on the same prospect. With that in mind, we take a look at six potential trade partners for New England.
2. Another terrific Monday Q&A is in the books, with a series of questions that hit a bunch of different topics. Good stuff.
3. The notebook looked at Tom Brady and Michael Bennett being absent from the start of the offseason program on Monday, as well as Jonathan Jones signing his RFA tender and the news of a couple of quarterbacks paying a pre-draft visit to Foxborough.
4. Conor Orr of MMQB rates all 32 receiver situations, with New England at 15th. “The Patriots always seem to be scrambling for wide receivers late in the season, but the fact that Julian Edelman only has a $5.4 million cap hit is insane. He’s easily worth three times that, even on the other side of his career,” writes Orr. “They're going to be in the Super Bowl, so leave me alone.”
5. Michael Middlehurst-Schwartz of USA TODAY writes on the eight teams most likely to trade up or down in the draft. He includes the Patriots on his list at No. 2. He writes: “Regardless of whether he looks to rise up from the No. 32 overall spot to address deficiencies at tight end, wide receiver and defensive tackle, Belichick is a virtual lock to shuffle the Patriots' draft-day cards in some fashion.”
Got that work in today with my guys @BennyCunningham @zeus30hightower
@ShaqDiesel_70 pic.twitter.com/o9vJXSKuQy
— jeremy holt (@jholt23) April 11, 2019