The 2022 NFL Draft begins on Thursday with the first round, but the Houston Texans and New England Patriots were ready to swap some Saturday picks.
The Texans acquired the #170 overall pick, a fifth-rounder, from the Patriots on Monday in exchange for #183 (sixth round) and #245 (seventh round).
The 170th pick originally belonged to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Tampa Bay traded it to New England last month in exchange for guard Shaq Mason.
Now the Patriots have turned that single pick into two. They raised their total haul to nine picks with Monday’s trade, while the Texans still have 10 after packaging the two late-round choices for one.
Houston selects third and 13th overall in Thursday’s first round, the latter pick acquired from the Cleveland Browns in the Deshaun Watson trade. The Patriots’ first pick is at #21.