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Patriots’ late-round reach was easily their weirdest move of 2025 offseason

During the seventh and final round of the 2025 NFL Draft, the New England Patriots made a strange move — trading down for one of the most coveted players remaining on their board.

The Patriots sent their final draft pick, No. 228 overall, to the Kansas City Chiefs. They got Nos. 251 and 257 at the tail end of the draft in return. And with the 251st overall pick, they selected Julian Ashby — a long snapper from Vanderbilt.

It was odd to see Mike Vrabel go full Bill Belichick mode on Day 3 of his first draft as head coach of the Patriots, but that’s what happened.