Patriots

Here’s why the NFL draft order changes slightly after the first round, and what it means for the Patriots

NFL tiebreaker rules help to create the draft order for the first round. In subsequent rounds, the order shifts due to a lesser known procedure.

By Hayden Bird

April 26, 2024

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The second round of the 2024 NFL Draft gets underway on Friday at 7 p.m., as the Patriots — having selected quarterback Drake Maye in Thursday’s first round — will once again have an early pick.

New England heads into the evening equipped with the 34th overall pick. It will be the second pick of the second round. Given that the Patriots chose Maye third overall, fans might be wondering why exactly New England — using its natural draft pick — will have a slightly better draft spot on Friday. Shouldn’t each round of the draft mirror the order from the first round?

The answer begins with tiebreakers. Because the Cardinals, Commanders, and Patriots each finished 4-13, the NFL utilized its tiebreaker procedures to determine the draft order. The league uses seven different methods of separating two or more teams with identical records.

After applying tiebreakers, the Patriots were placed in the middle of the three-team group.

In the second round, the Patriots move up to the top of the three-team grouping, with Washington moving to the fourth pick in the round, and the Cardinals slotting into the third spot.

Per NFL rules:

After the selection order for the first round of the draft has been determined, clubs originally involved in two-club ties will alternate positions from round to round. In the cases of ties that originally involved three-or-more clubs, the club at the top of a tied segment in a given round will move to the bottom of the segment for the next round, while all other clubs in the segment move up one place. This rotation will continue throughout the draft.

The pattern, as the rule notes, continues beyond the second round. In the third round, the Patriots slide to the back of the three-team rotation (and will have the fourth pick in that round, rotating one pick forward in the fourth round).

In addition to the rotation, numerous draft pick trades further distort the original draft order. The Patriots, for example, will pick 11th in the final round due to a previous trade with the Bears (having shipped the team’s original seventh-round pick in a separate trade).