How Patriots’ 2026 NFL Draft capital compares to the rest of the league

In his first two years after taking over as head of the New England Patriots’ personnel department, Eliot Wolf had a fairly simple job in the first round of the NFL Draft. All he had to do was make the obvious choice, a task made even easier by his team’s position: the Patriots were third on the clock in 2024 and fourth in 2025.

Fast forward to 2026, and Wolf and company enter the draft under completely different circumstances. As the reigning AFC champions and Super Bowl runner-ups, they are now set to select 31st overall on Thursday night.

Naturally, most subsequent picks also come fairly late in their rounds compared to the last couple of years. In all, the Patriots’ 2026 draft portfolio looks like this:

Round 1: No. 31

Round 2: No. 63

Round 3: No. 95

Round 4: No. 125 (from Bears, via Chiefs)

Round 4: No. 131

Round 5: No. 171

Round 6: No. 191 (from Chiefs)

Round 6: No. 198 (from Vikings, via Texans, Vikings and 49ers)

Round 6: No. 202 (from Steelers)

Round 6: No. 212

Round 7: No. 224

Owners of 11 total picks, the Patriots have strength in numbers. In fact, only the Pittsburgh Steelers (12) own more selections heading into Thursday, with New England sharing second place with the Miami Dolphins, Baltimore Ravens and Jacksonville Jaguars.

However, there a distinction between quantity and quality when it comes to the value of a team’s draft capital has to be made. A first-round selection, which allows for the opportunity to select some of the top talent in the class, is a far more important asset than a later-round pick.

The Patriots have a lot of those late-rounders, including four in the sixth round alone. As a consequence of that and being slated to draft toward the tail end of every single round, the overall value of New England’s portfolio is relatively small: after ranking near the top of the league in 2024 and 2025, the team is now below average in all five of the major value charts.

NFL Draft 2026: Draft capital per team

Team

Johnson

Hill

Stuart

OTC

PFF

Rank Avg

New York Jets47841395.0679.778173.1831.0Las Vegas Raiders40361334.6971.072582.6853.0Miami Dolphins3047922.5974.076322.9983.4New York Giants36941058.5867.266732.8103.8Cleveland Browns3244967.2967.567872.7904.0Kansas City Chiefs2870862.4063.865182.6296.2Tennessee Titans2807812.3359.461632.4657.4Arizona Cardinals3169822.3457.457312.3087.4New Orleans Saints2252670.8152.054072.14910.0Dallas Cowboys2327712.8050.753052.08510.6Pittsburgh Steelers1774572.4753.360572.26210.8Baltimore Ravens1912577.7348.053962.08211.8Houston Texans1878584.4451.053022.06912.0Philadelphia Eagles1615511.8047.250161.87915.2Tampa Bay Buccaneers1799545.0042.344741.73315.4Minnesota Vikings1641515.1041.245951.79016.0Carolina Panthers1563489.3941.744091.67518.6Detroit Lions1518479.2539.545091.70619.0Chicago Bears1538482.1441.243251.69119.4Washington Commanders1795517.1734.636871.51619.6New England Patriots1152375.3439.347261.73919.8Los Angeles Rams1579471.7333.035991.46022.2San Francisco 49ers1159376.7336.038061.43022.6Jacksonville Jaguars884282.7435.844151.58223.2Los Angeles Chargers1349427.8434.935811.38123.4Buffalo Bills953311.6229.533951.25925.8Seattle Seahawks992305.4527.428231.09227.4Cincinnati Bengals825254.8325.430731.14028.2Green Bay Packers672211.0925.631551.14928.4Indianapolis Colts733225.6424.328831.08429.4Atlanta Falcons670205.2921.124360.90331.2Denver Broncos457153.5819.624350.90831.8

If we combine the five separate rankings, we can see that the Patriots’ draft capital is on average ranked 20th in the league. There are some minor differences depending on the value chart used, however.

The classic Jimmy Johnson chart as well as the modified version by Pats Pulpit’s own Rich Hill both have New England ranked 24th in the NFL. The other three, meanwhile, think higher of the club’s collection of picks: the Chase Stuart chart has the Patriots 20th, with Over the Cap and Pro Football Focus ranking them 15th and 16th, respectively.

Through all of this, it becomes clear that Eliot Wolf and the Patriots are in a more challenging position capital-wise than they were in 2024 and 2025. Nonetheless, they do have the means of moving up and down the board; owning a lot of picks is still not a bad thing regardless of where they are positioned.

At the end of the day, it’s about how they are used.

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