Patriots third round quarterbackJacoby Brissett signed his rookie contract this morning, according to Ben Volin of The Boston Globe (on Twitter). Now that Brissett has inked his deal, the Patriots have now signed every player in their nine-man draft class.
The Pats, of course, lost their first-round pick as a result of the Deflategate scandal. The Patriots opted against trading back into the first-round but did do some jostling in the draft to expand the overall size of their draft class. Heading into draft night, the Patriots owned two consecutive second round picks at Nos. 60 and 61 overall with the latter pick coming from the Cardinals in the Chandler Jones trade. After taking Alabama defensive back Cyrus Jones at No. 60, the Pats parlayed No. 61 to the Saints in exchange for Nos. 78 and 112.
Brissett, like many third-round picks this year, took his time in putting pen to paper. The N.C. State product’s negotiations went on longer than most, however, and that may have been because of his additional leverage as a premium position player. Years ago, Russell Wilson‘s camp successfully negotiated for a higher base salary than the seven players taken immediately before him and Brissett’s reps may have pulled off a similar feat. The QB neglected to hire a traditional agent, instead relying on former NFL safety Abram Elam, whom Brissett is consulting as an adviser, and NFLPA director of salary cap and agent administration, Mark Levin.
Here is the complete rundown of the Patriots’ 2016 draft class:
- 2-60: Cyrus Jones, DB (Alabama)
- 3-78: Joe Thuney, OL (North Carolina State)
- 3-91: Jacoby Brissett, QB (North Carolina State)
- 3-96: Vincent Valentine, DT (Nebraska)
- 4-112: Malcolm Mitchell, WR (Georgia)
- 6-208: Kamu Grugier-Hill, LB (Eastern Illinois)
- 6-214: Elandon Roberts, LB (Houston)
- 6-221: Ted Karras, OL (Illinois)
- 7-225: Devin Lucien, WR (Arizona State)
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