The New England Patriots didn't have a ton of picks in the upcoming 2022 NFL Draft entering Tuesday, so it wasn't a huge surprise to learn they acquired one in the trade that sent starting right guard Shaq Mason to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
The real surprise was the actual round the pick is in. Tampa Bay sent New England a 2022 fifth-rounder, per NBC Sports Boston's Phil Perry. It was a low return for one of the best guards in football.
Getting a fifth-rounder for Mason replenishes the fifth-rounder the Patriots traded to the Las Vegas Raiders last year to acquire offensive tackle Trent Brown.
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Perry's seven-round NFL Mock Draft: Forecasting every Patriots pick
Here's an updated list of all the picks the Patriots own in the 2022 draft.
- First round: 21st overall
- Second round: 54th overall
- Third round: 85th overall
- Fourth round: 127th overall
- Fifth round (via Bucs): 170th overall
- Sixth round: 200th overall
- Sixth round (via Rams): 210th overall
Why is the fifth-rounder from the Mason trade so important to the Patriots?
New England Patriots
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Well, without it, the Patriots would have zero picks from 123rd overall to 198th overall. That's a huge gap in between picks, especially for a team like New England that has found so many middle-to-late round gems over the years. Mason himself was a fourth-round pick out of Georgia Tech in 2015.
The league announced all of the 2022 compensatory draft picks on Tuesday and the Patriots did not receive any of them.
So, unless the Patriots make more trades, the seven picks listed above are what they will take into the 2022 draft next month.