The Joe Milton III trade helped the New England Patriots slightly move up the draft board. Some will argue until the cows come home that the Patriots should have gotten more for their promising young quarterback. They ultimately decided to ship Milton and a seventh-round draft pick to the Dallas Cowboys for a fifth-rounder.

Such a line of thinking might suggest the Bengals could be trade candidates during the draft, which a new mock from NBC Sports Boston's Phil Perry has them doing. There, the Bengals strike a trade with the New England Patriots,

The New England Patriots made the shocking decision to trade Joe Milton and a seventh-round pick in the 2025 NFL Draft to the Dallas Cowboys for a fifth-round pick. While it appeared that they could wait until after the draft to move their backup quarterback,