Patriots acquire fourth-round pick from hated AFC East rival, then draft a kicker

Two AFC East rivals have pulled off a trade. The Patriots have acquired pick No. 112 from the Jets. In exchange, New England is sending New York picks No. 120 and No. 184.

The Patriots are using their newfound pick on kicker Chad Ryland. The special teamer spent four years at Eastern Michigan, setting the school’s all-time record for scoring (309 points). He transferred to Maryland for the 2022 campaign and proceeded to earn second-team All-Big Ten honors after connecting on 19 of his 23 field-goal attempts and 39 of his 40 extra point tries.

Ryland is now the second kicker to be selected in the top 112, joining Michigan’s Jake Moody, who was selected by the 49ers at No. 99.

Veteran Nick Folk has served as the Patriots kicker for the past three-plus seasons. He hit on 86.5 percent of his field-goal tries last year, his lowest total since 2019. He inked a two-year, $5M deal with the organization last March, perhaps setting up a kicking competition in the preseason.

It’s not every day that you see the Patriots and Jets pull off a trade. Earlier this draft, some pundits suspected if Bill Belichick spited his former employer by pulling off a trade with the Steelers. Pittsburgh jumped ahead of the Jets in the first round and took the last top-rated offensive tackle in Broderick Jones, forcing the Jets to pivot to edge Will McDonald IV at No. 15.