Patriots trade rumor could lead to deal with Steelers, Bears, 49ers or Browns

The New England Patriots are reportedly expected to be aggressive in the first round of the 2026 NFL draft in order to nab a player at a specific position.

According to Jason La Canfora of SportsBoom, the Patriots are eyeing an offensive lineman in Round 1 and could be willing to get aggressive and move up in order to get their guy.

"The Patriots will be hard-pressed to return to the Super Bowl, the loser of that game tends to suffer the following season, and especially if the team does not devote significant resources to improving an offensive line that got exposed throughout the postseason," La Canfora reported. This is not lost on team officials, according to league sources, and they expect New England to be willing to move up in the first-round if necessary to secure offensive line prospects they are particularly high on."

“They’re going to be aggressive,” a general manager told La Canfora. “They’ll move up if they have to.”

Four teams that could be willing to strike a deal with the Patriots are the Pittsburgh Steelers (No. 21), Cleveland Browns (No. 24), Chicago Bears (No. 25) and San Francisco 49ers (No. 27).

With the Steelers looking to get younger, we could see general manager Omar Khan opting for a later first-round pick in order to acquire more draft capital, especially if the the deal includes a 2027 pick.

The 49ers are in a similar boat when it comes to the need to get younger, and San Francisco and Chicago could use more draft capital in general with just six and seven picks, respectively.

We'd also peg the Browns as a possibility simply because they're rebuilding and need all the picks they can get.