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Mike Reiss thinks the two receivers the Patriots picked might end up being the story of the draft for the team.

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. -- Patriots coach Bill Belichick commented on the acquisition of Buccaneers running back LeGarrette Blount following the conclusion of the NFL Draft on Saturday.

"Excited to have him here, think he's a good football player," Belichick said. "He's had a lot of production and I think he got in a situation last year where they obviously went with [Doug] Martin, but I think he's a good football player and happy to add him to our team.

"I think we felt we had an opportunity to get a good player at a price we felt was fair, good value for what we gave up, and that's why we did it. Look, our job is to acquire good football players. That's what we're in the business of."

Blount becomes the Patriots' biggest back at 247 pounds, and his presence could push starter Stevan Ridley. He also could become a go-to presence in short-yardage and goal-line situations.

As for including running back Jeff Demps in the deal for Blount, Belichick declined to say that Demps' decision to run track this year was the reason for the deal.

"We just felt the overall trade was good for our football team," Belichick said.

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. -- With former Patriots offensive coordinator Bill O'Brien entering his second season as Penn State's head coach, it makes sense to think that the Patriots would have an interest in some former Nittany Lions.

So it comes as little surprise that as the Patriots begin the process of finalizing their rookie free agents that one of them is former Penn State center Matt Stankiewitch. The agreement with Stankiewitch was confirmed by a source.

“We ran the New England Patriot offense," Stankiewitch said recently. "We watched quite a bit of Patriots film. If we were installing a new play, we’d turn on the New England Patriots film [and] we’d watch how they were running the play against any team in the NFL.

"Of course, we had video recordings of Tom Brady’s cadence before we started doing that. I remember in the weight room, it was me and the quarterbacks and centers, and we had the playbook out trying to figure out how to do the cadences.”

Since the Patriots didn't draft any offensive linemen, building depth through free agency takes on added importance and Stankiewitch (6-foot-2 3/4, 302 pounds) could potentially line up at any of the interior positions. Starting guards Logan Mankins, 31, and Dan Connolly, 30, are the oldest players on the line, while center Ryan Wendell enters the final year of his contract.

Tackles
Starters: LT Nate Solder, RT/LT Sebastian Vollmer
Backups: RT/LT Will Svitek, RT Marcus Cannon, RT Markus Zusevics

Guards
Starters: LG Logan Mankins, RG Dan Connolly
Backups: LG/RG Nick McDonald, RG Marcus Cannon, LG/RG Matt Stankiewitch

Center
Starter: Ryan Wendell
Backups: Dan Connolly, Nick McDonald, Matt Stankiewitch

EXTRA POINT: The agent for Nevada tight end Zach Sudfeld tweeted that Sudfeld has agreed to terms on a contract with the Patriots.

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. -- The Patriots have had some solid success in the seventh round in Bill Belichick's tenure, using the draft's final round to take some risks and think a little bit outside the box.

Examples of seventh-round "hits" by the Patriots include running back Patrick Pass, receiver David Givens, outside linebacker Tully Banta-Cain, quarterback Matt Cassel, receiver Julian Edelman, defensive lineman Brandon Deaderick and cornerback Alfonzo Dennard.

Given that track record, the team's two seventh-round picks this year -- Illinois defensive end/outside linebacker Michael Buchanan and Rutgers linebacker Steve Beauharnais -- shouldn't be overlooked.

Buchanan is an edge player who projects to join the group including Chandler Jones, Rob Ninkovich, Justin Francis, Jermaine Cunningham, Jake Bequette, Marcus Benard, Jason Vega and possibly top 2013 Patriots draft pick Jamie Collins.

Buchanan seems like a worthy investment at this point in the draft, an example of a player whose stock was hurt by the timing in which he entered the draft. Because Buchanan had what some considered a disappointing senior season at Illinois, his stock slipped.

From this perspective, any pass-rusher with some unique traits is worth a look. A team can never put enough pressure on opposing quarterbacks.

As for Beauharnais, some might joke that Bill Belichick had adopted the "best Rutgers player available" philosophy as Beauharnais is the third Scarlet Knight picked by the team this year.

But in truth, Beauharnais was expected to be picked in the middle rounds and thus, in the eyes of some, represents a solid value in the seventh. He's considered smart, physical and versatile.

The Patriots were thin at linebacker last season, which forced them to move Rob Ninkovich from end to strongside linebacker at times, but they've built some better depth in the draft and Beauharnais could be part of the mix if he emerges on special teams.

Looking ahead, with the Patriots not selecting an offensive lineman, that figures to be one of the top areas they pursue in rookie free agency.

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. -- The Patriots selected Rutgers linebacker Steve Beauharnais with their final draft pick, a seventh-round selection (235th overall).

Beauharnais is the third player from Rutgers picked by the Patriots. Belichick's connection to Rutgers is well-documented; his son Steve played football there, and Belichick has a close friendship with former Scarlet Knights coach Greg Schiano.

Beauharnais (6-0 7/8, 240) ran 4.84 in the 40-yard dash and was projected as a fourth- to fifth-round selection by the Pro Football Weekly draft preview, which noted that he recorded the best 20-yard short shuttle (4.20 seconds) and best 3-cone drill time (6.99) of any inside linebacker at the combine.

Beauharnais, who appears to have some positional flexibility, is considered a physical player with the smarts to line up a defense. To earn a spot on the roster, he'll also likely have to factor into the special-teams mix.

Beauharnais had 83 tackles and one interception last season.

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. -- The Patriots selected Illinois defensive end/outside linebacker Michael Buchanan with the first of two seventh-round draft choices, 226th overall.

Buchanan (6-5 3/8, 255) is an edge rusher who was named Illinois' Outstanding Defensive Player in 2012 after starting all 12 games and leading the team in sacks (4.5), even though it was a decline in production. He had his best season in 2011 while playing opposite first-round draft choice Whitney Mercilus, totaling 7.5 sacks. Had Buchanan entered the draft after last season, he might have been a higher draft pick.

This was the selection that the Patriots acquired from Tampa Bay along with cornerback Aqib Talib in exchange for a fourth-round draft pick.

The Pro Football Weekly draft preview rated Buchanan as a third- to fourth-round pick.

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. -- The Patriots' trade that shipped running back Jeff Demps and a seventh-round draft choice to the Buccaneers in exchange for running back LeGarrette Blount is a "change of scenery" type of deal.

From a Patriots standpoint, there was hope that Demps' world-class speed would add a dynamic element to the offense/special teams when he was signed to a three-year deal last year that included $211,000 in guaranteed money. The signing was considered a coup at the time because Demps had gone undrafted while focusing on his track career, before later deciding to play football.

But Demps injured his knee in the preseason and spent the year on season-ending injured reserve. When he decided to run track again this year, that changed the dynamic of his situation with the club.

With Demps' availability for mandatory minicamp, training camp and maybe even the early parts of the regular season potentially coming into question, it appears the Patriots made the decision to move on.

The Buccaneers, who in turn were looking to deal Blount, turned out to be a willing trade partner; general manager Mark Dominik told reporters in Tampa on Saturday that the trade was more about moving Blount than acquiring Demps. It probably helped that Bill Belichick and Buccaneers coach Greg Schiano are close friends.

The other part of this trade is some of the issues and altercations that Blount has had in his college and pro career. The Patriots had to come to a comfort level with Blount, because as Belichick often says, when you acquire a player a team is getting the complete package -- on and off the field. Perhaps the level of trust between Belichick and Schiano provided more comfort for the Patriots in striking the deal for Blount.

If Blount runs into more issues, it makes sense to think the Patriots would move on quickly. For now, however, the Patriots are showing a willingness to make a notable commitment to Blount as they inherit his $1.25 million salary for 2013 (players' salaries aren't guaranteed until the regular season). Blount is scheduled for unrestricted free agency after the season, and he's a bigger back who could help in short yardage and on the goal line.

In considering all the layers to the trade, this type of rare player-for-player deal is similar to the 2006 deal in which the Patriots traded receiver Bethel Johnson for defensive tackle Johnathan Sullivan. With both players, the hope was that a change of scenery might lead to better results, but it never happened.

Maybe it will for Demps and/or Blount.

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. -- The Patriots have traded running back Jeff Demps and a seventh-round draft choice (229th overall) to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in exchange for running back LeGarrette Blount, the team announced.

The Buccaneers had been trying to trade Blount, according to the Tampa Times, while the dynamics of Demps' situation with the Patriots changed this offseason when he decided to run track for Team USA while hoping to still play football. It is unclear if Demps' pursuit of track led to the trade, but it seems likely given that the Patriots had guaranteed him $211,000 in a three-year contract last year as a rookie free agent. Demps spent last year on season-ending injured reserve (knee) after sustaining a knee injury in the preseason.

As for Blount, he was phased out of the Buccaneers' offense last year, carrying just 41 times for 151 yards (3.7 average) with two touchdowns. As a rookie in 2010 under former Buccaneers coach Raheem Morris, Blount rushed for 1,007 yards on 201 carries.

At 6-foot-0 and 247 pounds, Blount is a bigger back and joins a position headlined by Stevan Ridley (5-11, 220), Shane Vereen (5-9, 205), Brandon Bolden (5-11, 220) and Leon Washington (5-8, 203). The Patriots inherit his one-year contract.

Blount's resume includes some on- and off-field issues and altercations, in college and the NFL, that the Patriots were obviously comfortable with, or else they wouldn't have made the trade.

The Patriots host the Buccaneers on Sept. 22.

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. -- In an interview on NFL Network on Saturday, Patriots coach Bill Belichick shared his viewpoint of the team's selections of receivers Aaron Dobson (second round, 59th) and Josh Boyce (fourth round, 102nd), as well as the overall receiving corps.

"We've had a chance this year, through a variety of circumstances, to redo the receiver position," Belichick said in a one-on-one interview with Mike Mayock.

"We've lost guys for one reason or another, but with [Danny] Amendola coming in as an inside guy who can also play outside -- but primarily an inside receiver -- and the two players that we added in the draft with Dobson and Boyce ... as you said, they're fast guys that play primarily on the perimeter. They have good size. They're tough. They've shown up in the kicking game and blocking and things like that. They're smart players that are mature. Hopefully, they'll fit in well with our offense.

"It will be certainly a new receiving group for us, in our chemistry and timing and execution and all that. They have a long way to go to blend in with some of our other veteran players on the offensive side of the ball. But hopefully those guys will all be able to grow together with our relatively young tight ends and fairly young group of backs, and become productive in the passing game and overall offensively as well."

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. -- When it comes to playing with good quarterbacks, Josh Boyce has pretty good luck.

After catching passes from Robert Griffin III in high school and Andy Dalton at Texas Christian, Boyce will work with Tom Brady after being drafted 102nd overall by the Patriots.

In fact, Boyce and Brady share the same agents, Yee & Dubin Sports.

The two were introduced when Boyce visited New England earlier this spring. The 5-foot-11 pass catcher did not have a private workout with the Patriots, but his intelligence helped catch the Patriots' attention.

"I'm real smart," Boyce said Saturday. "I can pick up things pretty quick. I see a lot of things before they happen. I think my mind is working for me a lot of times."

It also helps that Boyce ran a 4.38-second 40-yard dash at February's scouting combine. He did it despite recovering from a foot injury, which he said contributed to his decision to enter the draft as a redshirt junior.

"Getting injured, you didn't know what would happen," Boyce said, mentioning he already earned his degree. "So I just came on out."

Boyce said his foot injury is still "day-to-day." It's unclear at this point if he'll be able to fully participate in the upcoming rookie minicamp.

In addition to being college teammates with current Patriots cornerback Malcolm Williams and offensive lineman Marcus Cannon, Boyce said he has worked out with Patriots receiver Julian Edelman.

Boyce will be just one of many new faces at receiver this season for the Patriots. As such, it will be a wide-open position battle come July.

"I just think I'm an all-around receiver," he said. "Whatever they need me to do I can do."

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. -- The Patriots entered the 2013 NFL draft with arguably their greatest need coming at wide receiver. Considering Bill Belichick had drafted only 10 receivers in his past 13 drafts -- and three of them were seventh-rounders, with another really more of a special-teams-only player -- one of the intriguing aspects of the draft was how Belichick would approach the position. The team's lack of success in drafting and developing receivers was an additional layer to the storyline.

In selecting Texas Christian receiver Josh Boyce in the fourth round, which followed up the selection of Marshall receiver Aaron Dobson in the second round, the Patriots now have two smart, athletic options to develop at the position.

It's been a challenge for rookie receivers to break through in the team's system, but Boyce and Dobson have some of the key traits and characteristics to potentially succeed. It starts with smarts. Similar to Dobson, that's one of Boyce's biggest assets, along with his combination of height (5-11), weight (206) and speed (4.38 in the 40-yard dash). He's a versatile receiver, but projects mostly to the outside.

All that said, there is a reason that prospects slip to the fourth round, and Boyce's drops and poor production against top competition were considered knocks against him. A foot injury also could have been a factor.

Still, when it comes to Boyce, there is upside because of his combination of physical gifts and smarts, and it will be up to the coaching staff -- and coach-on-the-field Tom Brady -- to cultivate it. The Patriots' receiver position is undergoing an overhaul, and in Dobson and Boyce, the Patriots have injected two of the most athletic receivers in the draft.

Solid moves from this perspective.

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. -- The Patriots selected Texas Christian wide receiver Josh Boyce with their fourth-round draft choice (102nd overall).

Boyce took a pre-draft visit to Gillette Stadium and is considered as a "height-weight-speed" prospect among scouts. At 5-foot-11 and 206 pounds, he has good size, and ran a 4.38 time in the 40-yard dash.

Boyce totaled 66 receptions for 891 yards and 7 touchdowns last season. He is considered an intelligent receiver who grasps complex concepts, although some analysts say his timed speed didn't always match his game speed.

The Patriots selected Marshall receiver Aaron Dobson in the second round (59th overall), so Boyce represents a double-dip at the position, similar to what the team did in 2010 with tight ends Rob Gronkowski and Aaron Hernandez, and in 2011 with running backs Stevan Ridley and Shane Vereen.

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. -- The Patriots own the following selections on the final day of the NFL draft:

Fourth round (102)
Seventh round (226)
Seventh round (229)
Seventh round (235)

Today's action, from Rounds 4-7, kicks off at 12 p.m. ET, and there is a 5-minute limit per pick. The Patriots' fourth-round pick is the fifth overall selection of the day.

Patriots picks so far in the draft:

52. OLB/DE Jamie Collins (Southern Mississippi)
59. WR Aaron Dobson (Marshall)
83. CB Logan Ryan (Rutgers)
91. S Duron Harmon (Rutgers)

One need area that hasn't been addressed is the interior offensive line. There is also the possibility of a double-dip at wide receiver.

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. -- The Patriots have scouted their first four draft selections for months, but Friday night was the first opportunity for reporters to get to know the new guys.

Interviewed by conference call shortly after they were picked, each player's story began to emerge.

Jamie Collins hails from McCall Creek in southwest Mississippi, just north of the Louisiana border. He attended the University of Southern Mississippi, located in nearby Hattiesburg. And if you recognize the name, that's because its most famous resident is former NFL quarterback Brett Favre.

Yes, Collins knows Favre. In fact, the two have fished together, and exchanged texts before this week's draft. Collins is strictly a bass fisherman, and a pretty good one, he says.

"But I don't like to brag. I just like to go out and prove it," Collins said.

Aaron Dobson is from Dunbar, West Virginia, a small city just up the Kanawha River from the state capital, Charleston. On the other side of Charleston is Rand, hometown of former NFL receiver Randy Moss. Both played at Marshall University, some 50 miles west.

Off the field, Dobson says he "plays video games" and "just likes to kick it with my family and friends."

The Patriots' pair of third-round picks, of course, know a little about each other. Logan Ryan and Duron Harmon not only were teammates at Rutgers, but close friends and workout partners. Their families, as well as Devin McCourty's family, are well-acquainted with one another.

Ryan grew up in Voorhees, New Jersey, which is not too far from Philadelphia. Not surprisingly, he was an Eagles fan. And if you're looking for personality out of these first four picks, Ryan's your man.

Telling reporters he's a "family guy," Ryan said he and his girlfriend have a one-year old puppy. It's a puggle -- they couldn't get a pit bull, so "we had to go with the next fiercest thing" -- and its name is Nala, after The Lion King character.

"I'm seeing my dog grow up," he joked. "I got (it) last year (and it) woke me up at all times in the middle of the night."

Just wait until he has kids.

Finally, Harmon's hometown is Magnolia, Delaware. He was one of 10 national finalists for the Senior CLASS Award and the ARA Sportsmanship Award.

Harmon and Ryan will be arriving at Gillette Stadium for rookie minicamp next month as former teammates and friends, a rarity in the NFL, and with a familiar mentor in Devin McCourty.

On the other end of the spectrum, Collins doesn't know any Patriots players, and will be moving nearly 1,500 miles from home.

"(I'm) going in cold," he said.

Here's some advice: Pack warm clothes, and your new teammates will do the rest.

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. -- The following is Bill Belichick's draft news conference transcript, following the third round:

BB: So we’re pretty much halfway through the drafting process here. I think we were able to improve our team here tonight with the four players we selected, so we're pleased with that. We’ll see how it all comes together. I felt like we got good value for our picks, good players, guys that have a lot of things going for them, so we’ll see how it all works out. Obviously we made the trade yesterday, which got us basically two extra picks: the 83rd pick, which was Logan Ryan, and the pick we have tomorrow which is 102. Those are two players that we didn't have prior to Thursday’s start and hopefully those will be two guys – whatever happens tomorrow – that we can add to what we originally came in with. Again, I felt like we got good value for the picks that we had: three defensive players and a receiver. Jamie [Collins] is an interesting guy that came into college as a safety, played inside linebacker, played outside linebacker in a 3-4 and then played defensive end last year. He’s been a very productive player in the kicking game. He’s got a lot of versatility, solid player, hard worker, great kid. Of course Aaron [Dobson] was a great high school basketball player and football player. Was a very productive player at Marshall. Had a real good Senior Bowl. Both players have real good size, good speed for their position, and have been productive at good levels. And of course the two Rutgers DBs – that was a very good defensive unit that they had last year, over the past few years actually, but especially last year. Of course Logan [Ryan] had a very productive year outside and Duron [Harmon] inside. I know that whole group, but especially those guys, are close. They communicated well, played well. Both were very productive, both defensively and in the kicking game, solid guys. We’ve had a number of our players here comment on their personal characteristics, so I think we're getting some high quality guys there as well as good football players. We'll see how things go tomorrow. Right now we’re scheduled to be in the fourth and seventh rounds. We’ll see how all that comes together. Like I said, I feel like we improved our team and hopefully we'll be able to do that tomorrow through the draft process and the subsequent free agent signings that will come post draft.

Q: What are some of the things that stand out to you about Aaron Dobson?
BB: He’s big, he’s fast, he’s got good hands, he’s a strong player; smart, very smart. He has some position flexibility and versatility. Catches the ball very well. We’ll see how it goes.

Q: There’s one stat that says he recorded no drops as a senior. Does that speak to his hands?
BB: I don't know what the stats were. I mean, he’s got good hands. Every receiver has dropped the ball. Every quarterback has thrown an interception. Every defensive player has missed a tackle. Every guy that has ever carried the ball has fumbled at some point. I don’t want to get carried away on that, but I’d say he has good hands.

Q: How would you define this class of overall prospects in this year’s draft?
BB: Like any other draft, we’ll see as time goes on. Guys have a lot of strengths. There are a lot of good players out there. How they develop or fit into the different systems and how they are able to respond to the opportunities and competition that they have, that’s all in front of them. And I’m sure, like every year, there will be guys that aren’t drafted or guys taken in the sixth or seventh round that nobody will be talking about that at some point everybody will be talking about. It's a very unscientific process. We’re all doing the best we can. Everybody’s looking at the same board. We’ll see how it all turns out. I don’t know.

Q: Did you find that there was more bunching than normal?
BB: I think there was a lot of depth in the third round. I think there are lot of interesting prospects that are still on the board. I think there’s plenty of quality in that second, third, fourth round where we were. Not that there wasn’t in the first as well, but I think it was maybe more evenly spread out.

Q: Were there any opportunities to move up, specifically in the second round?
BB: I don’t know. There’s always phone calls on draft day. People calling us, us calling other people. Sometimes they develop, sometimes they don’t. But, we didn’t move today. We stayed there and took players we felt would help our football team.

Q: Is there some positional advantage in getting two guys that were teammates at the same position in college?
BB: I don’t know. I don’t know.

Q: Nick Caserio said last night there were guys you were looking at with the 29^th pick that were still on the board. Did any of those guys fall to where you picked today?
BB: I think we got good value for our picks, put it that way.

Q: Do you see Jamie Collins playing on the line of scrimmage or off?
BB: He’s done both. He was basically a defensive end last year. His sophomore year he was more of an off the line ‘backer. His freshman year he was a safety and his junior year he was a 34 outside linebacker where he was on the line but he was in coverage, whereas this past year, he wasn’t in coverage very often. He has a lot of versatility. We’ll see how it goes.

Q: Does a player with that kind of versatility have more value these days with the way the game is played with spread offenses and sub packages?
BB: Sure, if players can do that, great. Some guys just do one thing and do it well. There’s a lot to be said for that too. It’s similar but I would say different than [Dont’a] Hightower but there’s some similarities. Dont’a did that as well – played inside, played outside, played defensive end in their nickel package at Alabama last year. Jamie [Collins] did that more by season than Dont’a did. He was more within the game he would do those different things. Yeah, there’s some value to that but there’s value to doing one thing well too.

Q: How many of the four picks tonight did you personally talk to and sit down with?
BB: I talked to all of them.

Q: How important is that to you in the process?
BB: I don’t know. It’s a piece of the puzzle. It’s a big puzzle and there’s a lot of pieces. I don’t know. It’s one of many things. We’ve drafted plenty of players that I haven’t talked to, so I don’t know if it’s any criteria.

Q: How did Aaron Dobson’s smarts demonstrate themselves to you? Was it film, private workout, on the white board?
BB: Yeah, all the above. All the above.

Q: Was there a specific one that stood out?
BB: I’d say all of them. You talk to him about what he did. He can explain the techniques, his assignments, what other guys are doing at Marshall. We’d look at things that we did, then come back and talk about them. He remembered how we did them, how we call them, things like that. He’s a pretty intelligent guy. He has good recall of what [Marshall] did. He had a good understanding and grasp of learning, taking new information, processing that and being able to understand it and apply it. Tell him something and then see a play a few plays later and say, ‘What would you do on this play if they did this, they did that’? There’s different ways to measure all that, but he’s a pretty impressive kid. He’s a mature kid. He’s pretty smart.

Q: Would you say he stood out in that area more than some of the other receivers?
BB: I’d say he’s certainly in the upper group of that.

Q: Is it a new development to scout players that bulk up to become front seven players – players that go from defensive backs to the front seven?
BB: I don’t know. We can’t control any of that. We can just evaluate the player as he is. I wouldn’t say that Jamie has bulked up. He’s grown into his body like a lot of kids do when they go to college. When they come out of high school, four years later they’re bigger, stronger, more developed like most people are at that age. I wouldn’t say that he’s a guy that just bulked up. He grew into his body. He has a big frame and I think the weight he has is good weight.

Q: It seems like Duron Harmon is a guy that you could have gotten later. Did you feel like, ‘Why wait until the fourth round if he’s the best player on our board?’
BB: We thought it was good value when we took him. I don’t know what other teams, how they have their boards stacked or anything else. There’s no way to predict that – 31 other teams. I think you have to take the players you feel like can help your team. That’s what we did.

Q: Were there any surprises for you through the first three rounds?
BB: Every draft is unique and has its own characteristics, as this one did. It’s pretty obvious. I don’t think there’s anything to really…it is what it is. Next year’s draft will be different than this year’s draft; this year’s draft is different than last year’s draft. Different players, different teams, different order – it’s like shuffling the cards. It will be a new shuffle next year.

Q: What attracted you to Logan Ryan?
BB: He’s a good football player in a good program. He’s been very productive. He’s one of the most productive corners in the draft. Smart; been productive. He’s been in a very good system. He’s been well coached, knows his techniques well, he’s an instinctive player. He’s had a lot of production. He’s tough, he’s a good tackler.

Q: You made a similar move trading out of the first round in 2009. Does this year make you think back to that and some of the lessons you may have learned?
BB: We talk about things that happen in every draft and evaluate them after the draft and then try to go back and do a little refresher course. The draft comes around once a year and I don’t want to say it’s out of your mind for the other 350 days around it, leading up to it and after it, but you try to go back over your notes and refresh yourself to all the different scenarios that can come up in the draft prior to. That’s part of the preparation and then analysis after it’s over so that the next time you go through it you can go back and look at your notes and try to keep those things fresh in your mind because we won’t go through this again for another year. Now is the time to think about it and make whatever notes or points or adjustments to how we do it next year. If we’re going to do it, now is a good time to think about those because a year from now, especially when you get to be my age, you don’t have the kind of memory that you used to have, you don’t remember all the little things that happen as well. We try to do that now and we obviously go back over what has happened. It might not be us, it might be another team that you learn something from; another situation that could come up.

Q: Was there any trepidation moving from 29 to 52?
BB: We looked at the board. We took a guesstimate of what we thought the value would be and what the two extra picks basically that we got were 83 and 102. So we kept [91] and 59. We felt like we would get good value there and I think looking back on it, in addition to the seventh, looking back on it, I think if we could have made that trade before the draft started, that we probably would have made it on Wednesday.

Q: Can you talk about what you’re wearing [a Watertown Police sweatshirt] and why?
BB: To support the Watertown Police. That was an unbelievable job they did. I’m sure we all followed it, followed as closely as we could. Just supporting people that protect our safety and our freedom – the police, the military. That’s what makes it all possible to do what we do. [I’m] behind them all the way.