The New England Patriots started the 2025 NFL Draft by taking LSU left tackle Will Campbell with the fourth overall pick Thursday night, and went offense again with their three picks on Friday.
The Patriots began their run on defense on Saturday, but not along the defensive line as many expected. With their first pick on Day 3, the Patriots took California safety Craig Woodson with the 106th overall pick in the fourth round.
The 6-foot, 200-pound safety started 13 games for the Golden Bears in 2024, and earned Third-Team All ACC honors after recording 70 tackles, two interceptions, and seven pass break-ups. Woodson was in college for six years (he missed the 2021 season with a knee injury he suffered in training camp) and is already 24 years old.
But he played the bulk of his snaps at free safety last season, which is an area of need in the New England secondary. He could be the team’s first deep safety since Devin McCourty retired. Woodson also played a lot of special teams at Cal, so he could carve out a role in New England in the third phase of the game.
The Patriots traded up to get Florida State defensive tackle Joshua Farmer with the No. 137 pick, adding a big run-stuffer to their defensive mix. The 6-foot-3, 305-pound Farmer was a two-year starter for the Seminoles and finished his college career with 80 tackles, 11 sacks, and 21 tackles for loss. He could fill the void left when New England traded Davon Godchaux in the offseason.
With their first pick in the fifth round, New England went with LSU edge rusher Bradyn Swinson at 146th overall. The 6-foot-4, 255-pound Swinson had 93 combined tackles, 20 tackles for loss, 10.5 sacks, and four forced fumbles over his two seasons for LSU, including 8.5 sacks in 2024. He spent his first three college seasons at Oregon, where he had three sacks over 29 games.
The Patriots had a second fifth-round pick, but traded out of 171st overall to pick up a sixth and seventh rounder. New England sent that pick to Detroit for picks 182 and 228.
With pick No. 182, New England drafted Miami kicker Andres Borregales — the first kicker off the board in 2025. He was a four-year starter or the Hurricanes and connected on 18 of his 19 field goal attempts in 2024, including a long of 56 yards. He hit 74 of his 86 field-goal attempts over his four years, and went 40-of-45 the last two seasons when he earned First-Team All-ACC honors.
Borregales will compete with John Parker Romo to become New England’s primary kicker in training camp.
Patriots executive VP of player personnel Eliot Wolf spoke with reporters Friday night, and said the team would start to focus on defensive players Saturday. But he said the New England brass is confident the team currently in place could compete if the season started tomorrow.
“We do. That was obviously an emphasis, and that’s something that we came up short with last year,” said Wolf. “So, moving forward, I still think there are a bunch of areas that we can add depth to, and there’s some areas, particularly on defense, that we feel like we need to shore up a little bit.”
Stick with us throughout the weekend to keep track of all of New England’s picks in the 2025 NFL Draft.
Who have the Patriots picked in the 2025 NFL Draft?
The Patriots are scheduled to make nine of the 257 picks in the 2025 NFL Draft:
Round 1: Will Campbell, OT, LSU (4th overall)
Round 2: TreVeyon Henderson, RB, Ohio State (38th overall)
Round 3: Kyle Williams, WR, Washington State (69th overall)
Round 3: Jared Wilson, C, Georgia (95th overall)
Round 4: Craig Woodson, S, California (106th overall)
Round 4: Joshua Farmer, DT, Florida State (137th overall)
Round 5: Bradyn Swinson, EDGE, LSU (146th overall)
Round 6: Andres Borregales, K, Miami (182nd overall)Round 7: 220th overall
Round 7: 228th overall (From Detroit for 171st overall)
On Friday, the Patriots traded down from No. 77, which was acquired from the Atlanta Falcons in the Matthew Judon trade last summer, and acquired the 85th and 146th overall picks from the Carolina Panthers. New England then traded No. 85 to the Kansas City Chiefs for the 95th pick and a 2026 fourth rounder.
By trading down 20 spots, New England landed an extra fifth-round pick this year and an extra fourth-round pick in 2026.
They then traded up Saturday afternoon to get back into the end of the fourth round to take Farmer at No. 137, sending No. 144 in the fifth round and No. 238 in the seventh round to the Seattle Seahawks.
Patriots needs in 2025 NFL Draft
The Patriots checked some huge boxes off their to-do list Thursday and Friday, landing a left tackle, a pass-catching running back, and an explosive receiver. They also bulked up their depth at center. All of that must make Drake Maye a very happy quarterback.
With six more picks on Saturday, the Patriots still need to draft another edge rusher. They should also look at adding a young tight end to the roster, and there’s an outside chance they’ll take a quarterback to join Maye and Joshua Dobbs on the depth chart.
And not to be forgotten, the Pats need to add a kicker to the roster to compete with Parker Romo — the only kicker currently on the roster.
Patriots draft Will Campbell fourth overall
Campbell was the starting left tackle in all three of his seasons at LSU, after he took over as a true freshman in 2022. He’s a stout protector at 6-foot-6 and 319 pounds, and allowed just five sacks over 2,553 in his 38 college games.
Campbell should be able to come in and protect Drake Maye’s blind side from Day 1, after he did an incredible job keeping his quarterbacks clean over his three-year career at LSU. Campbell is the type of player new head coach Mike Vrabel loves: A violent competitor on the field and a leader in the locker room. He always plays too as Campbell missed just one game in college, which came back in 2022 due to an illness.
There is some concern over Campbell’s arms being a little short for a left tackle in the NFL, after they measured at 32 5/8 inches at the NFL Scouting Combine. They measured at 33 inches at LSU’s Pro Day and Campbell dismissed any concerns about his arms throughout the pre-draft process, but some pundits believe he’ll eventually have to shift to guard in the NFL.
But for now, Campbell is going to be tasked with protecting Drake Maye’s blind side as a rookie. He’ll give the team stability in 2025 and could become a key building block for the New England offensive line, which allowed 52 sacks during the 2024 season.
The top three tackles in the draft all went in the Top 10, with Missouri’s Armand Membou going seventh to the New York Jets and Texas’ Kelvin Banks going No. 9 to the New Orleans Saints.
Patriots add explosive offensive players on Day 2
As for Friday night, the Patriots added some serious playmakers on offense, taking Ohio State running back TreVeyon Henderson in the second round, 38th overall, and Washington State receiver Kyle Williams in the third round with the 69th overall pick. Drake Maye has to be jumping for joy, as both players are explosive with the ball in their hands.
The Patriots traded down twice later in the third round, and ended up taking Georgia center Jared Wilson with the 95th selection. The 6-foot-3, 310-pound Wilson is extremely athletic for a big fella, and could develop into the team’s starting center. He only started one season for the Bulldogs, but could compete with veteran Garrett Bradbury in training camp for the starting gig in New England. He could also see some time at guard as a rookie.
Who did the Patriots draft in 2024?
New England started the 2024 NFL Draft with a big hit when the Pats took Drake Maye third overall. After that, it was a lot of misses for Eliot Wolf and company.
After taking Maye, the Patriots traded down in the second round and took Ja’Lynn Polk (12 receptions as a rookie) at No. 37 in the second round. The team passed up a chance at drafting Ladd McConkey at No. 34, who caught 82 passes for 1,149 yards and seven touchdowns for the L.A. Chargers.
The Patriots then went back-to-back offensive linemen in tackle Caedan Wallace (third round, 68th overall) and guard Layden Robinson (fourth round, 103rd overall), both of whom struggled to crack the rotation as rookies. Also in the fourth round, New England drafted receiver Javon Baker (fourth round, 110th overall) with a pick acquired from the Chargers. Baker barely played and finished his rookie season with just one reception.
Sixth-round corner Marcellas Dial (drafted 180th overall) played well as a depth piece in the New England secondary and saw action in all 17 games as a rookie. The Pats also took quarterback Joe Milton III 193rd overall in the sixth round, who helped the team win Week 18 against Buffalo before he was traded to the Cowboys in the offseason. New England capped off its 2024 picks with defensive back Jaheim Bell, who was taken 231st overall.
Matt GeaganMatthew Geagan is a sports producer for CBS Boston. He has been part of the WBZ sports team for nearly 20 years. He moved over to the web in 2012 and has covered all the highs (and a few lows) in Boston sports.
