2025 NFL Draft: Patriots executive reveals team's approach as New England holds top 5 pick

We are just about a month away from the 2025 NFL Draft, and the order of who will be picked among the top-five selections is still anyone's guess. The New England Patriots were just one loss away from holding the No. 1 pick going into last year's season finale, but a win against the Buffalo Bills put them at No. 4.

New England will now be limited in its options, depending on whom is selected with the first three picks. That is, if it doesn't trade down. The Tennessee Titans currently hold the top selection, followed by the Cleveland Browns at No. 2 and the New York Giants at No. 3.

There are many avenues the Patriots could take when the draft kicks off April 24 at Lambeau Field in Green Bay, Wisconsin, and we just got one hint as to what the team plans to do, from one of its own.

New England executive vice president of player personnel Eliot Wolf said they are changing their approach from the 2024 draft, focusing on the best player left on the board, rather than what they need. 

"The best player available is going to be the way it is," Wolf said, via MassLive.com. "Maybe we went for need a little bit too much last year. Obviously that culminated in us drafting Drake Maye, so it wasn't all bad. But, just moving forward, it's taking the best player, and understanding that we've filled a lot of needs already in free agency."

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The draft has historically not been a strong suit for New England. While it believes it has found a franchise quarterback in Maye -- last year's No. 3 overall pick -- it didn't see much production from that draft class other than at quarterback. The Patriots struggled in many areas last season, including their offensive line and pass catchers. Their defense also went down significantly from 2023. 

Under new head coach Mike Vrabel, the Patriots addressed some of these needs in free agency, signing defensive tackle Milton Williams, cornerback Carlton Davis, edge rusher Harold Landry, linebacker Robert Spillane, right tackle Morgan Moses, wide receiver Mack Hollins, quarterback Joshua Dobbs, edge rusher K'Lavon Chaisson and safety Marcus Epps.

Their biggest remaining needs include wide receiver and offensive tackle. The team hosted Stefon Diggs last week, the wide receiver's first visit of the offseason.

"We feel really excited about the some of the names that we've added. We still know there's a lot of work to be done," Wolf said. [We've had] a lot of defensive adds, a few offensive adds, we're always looking. We're still looking. The [Stefon] Diggs' visit is part of that. We're just really excited to be able to go into the draft not forced to pick something."

CBS Sports mock drafts predict a variety of possibilities, including the Patriots taking duel-threat Travis Hunter out of Colorado, offensive tackle Kelvin Banks Jr. out of Texas and former LSU offensive tackle Will Campbell.