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From Aqib Talib to Corey Coleman: Bill Belichick’s pursuit of top draft picks The New England Patriots addition of former Cleveland Browns 15th overall pick and wide receiver Corey Coleman shouldn’t come as a surprise to fans of the team because the transaction follows a familiar pattern.An early draft pick burns out with a different team while still on their rookie deal. Bill Belichick and Nick Caserio thought highly of the player coming out of the draft and thinks the player might be more successful in a different situation. The Patriots add the former top draft pick with varying levels of success.There are plenty of previous examples of these trades Limited Steve Grogan Jersey , but the Patriots seemed to really commit to this style of talent acquisition in 2012 when they acquired cornerback Aqib Talib from the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the final year of Talib’s contract.New England is rarely able to add elite talent in the draft because the team is so successful year after year and have late picks. One workaround for the team is to take major risks on players with injury histories, like Rob Gronkowski and Dominique Easley. These blue chip players would have gone much earlier in the draft had they remained healthy. Instead, the Patriots took a risk and drafted them later.The other way to add the top talent is by acquiring players still on rookie deals from other teams (or through free agency). The Patriots acquired former 39th overall pick Akeem Ayers from the Tennessee Titans for peanuts in 2014 and former 50th overall pick Jonathan Bostic from the Chicago Bears in 2015.Then they hit hyperdrive in 2016, trading for former 6th overall pick Barkevious Mingo from the Browns, former 7th overall pick Jonathan Cooper from the Arizona Cardinals, former 40th overall pick Kyle Van Noy from the Detroit Lions, and former 47th overall pick Eric Rowe from the Philadelphia Eagles en route to winning Super Bowl LI.The Patriots went back to that well in 2017, trading for former 20th overall pick Brandin Cooks from the New Orleans Saints, former 29th overall pick Phillip Dorsett from the Indianapolis Colts, and former 60th overall pick Kony Ealy from the Carolina Panthers.Some of these trades, like for Talib, Ayers, Van Noy, and Cooks were rousing successes. Other were complete busts, like for Cooper and Ealy. But the Patriots were generally giving up late round picks for these players, so the success rate has been pretty stellar given the cost.The Patriots are hoping for a similar success rate this year with the acquisition of former 12th overall pick Danny Shelton from the Browns and we could easily put former 29th overall pick Cordarrelle Patterson and his relatively cheap $3.25 million contract in a similar category, along with the newly signed Coleman.Even if just one of these players pans out as a top contributor, the Patriots gave up what should be a late 2019 3rd round pick for Shelton, Patterson, Coleman (for free!), and the 210th overall pick in the 2018 NFL Draft (Braxton Berrios). That’s incredible value, especially given the relatively average success rate of a late third round pick.So Coleman could be cut later this week. Maybe he’ll stick around once Julian Edelman returns. Maybe he’ll get a couple hundred yards over the course of the whole season. Maybe the Patriots will extend him beyond this year if he fits in with the system and team culture.Who knows. The Patriots team-building strategy is set up so the team won’t have to mortgage away their future in order to find out.Update: The Patriots cut Coleman after six days to make space for another former top draft pick Trey Flowers Jersey , wide receiver Josh Gordon. On and on we go. While the New England Patriots registered their fourth straight win on Sunday, the team’s AFC East rivals went a combined 0-3. This, in turn, allowed the Patriots to take a two-point lead over their closest competitor in the division, the Miami Dolphins. Let’s find out how this week went down in the latest edition of the AFC East Report:1. New England Patriots (5-2)Week 7: 38-31 win against the Chicago Bears, in Chicago ILTo watch highlights of the game, click here.2. Miami Dolphins (4-3)Week 7: 32-21 loss against the Detroit Lions, in Miami Gardens FLThe Miami Dolphins saw backup quarterback Brock Osweiler (22/31, 239 yds, 2 TDs) play another solid game in place of the injured Ryan Tannehill, but they still lost their third contest in four weeks to fall another game behind the Patriots. The reasons for that? A defense that was susceptible to the big play, failed to get off the field in critical situations, and allowed its opponent to run all over it. The offense, meanwhile, took to long to get into a rhythm.While the home team opened the game with a three-and-out, the Detroit Lions were able to march right down the field to take a 7-0 lead. With Miami unable to get much going on its next two drives either, the visitors went up 10-0 early in the second quarter. At that point, Adam Gase’s team finally woke up and went on an 11-play drive that covered 77 yards and ended with a touchdown pass from Osweiler to Kenny Stills (1/5 yds, 1 TD).With momentum on their side, the Dolphins surrendered another big touchdown drive to their opponent and therefore went into halftime down 17-7. Coming out of the locker rooms, Miami’s defense was unable to hang with the Detroit offense: the team scored on all four of its possessions in the second half. It started with a field goal, which was answered with a long touchdown run by Kenyan Drake (6/72 yds Authentic Jordan Richards Jersey , 1 TD).Detroit, however, responded with a touchdown drive of its own and after another Miami punt increased its lead to 15 points. The Dolphins’ third touchdown of the day – a 24-yard pass from Osweiler to ex-Patriot Danny Amendola (6/84 yds, 1 TD) – brought back hope of a comeback but Miami’s inability to force a punt came back to haunt the team once again: after another Lions field goal, the team was down 11 with under two minutes to go.The Dolphins ended the game with a missed field goal attempt and have now quickly crashed back to earth after their 3-0 start. While the team is still very much in the race for the division title or a wild card playoff spot, it is undoubtably trending downwards. Maybe Tannehill’s return – which will not come this week – will help turn the team’s fortunes around again.To watch highlights of the game, click here.3. New York Jets (3-4)Week 7: 37-17 loss against the Minnesota Vikings, in East Rutherford NJComing off back-to-back wins, the Jets were blown out at home by the visiting Minnesota Vikings. While New York was able to keep the game close through the first half – mainly because of a solid defensive performance – the team failed to keep up with the Vikings over the final 30 minutes and has now fallen back below .500 due to self-inflicted mistakes and inconsistent offensive play.The contest started badly for the home team as it took Minnesota just four plays to reach the end zone and go up 7-0. In the meantime, the team’s offense started slowly and had to punt on its first two possessions – luckily for New York, the defense was able to settle down after giving up the early touchdown. This, in turn, allowed the Jets to tie the game late in the first quarter on a scoring pass from Sam Darnold (17/42, 206 yds, 1 TD, 3 INTs) to Chris Herndon (4/42 yds, 1 TD).A field goal after a short punt allowed the Vikings to get back on top early in the second period. At that point, the game turned into a defensive showdown with neither team being able to string together plays. While New York’s offense struggled and turned the football over on a lost fumble by Darnold, its defense – aided by a missed Minnesota field goal attempt – was able to keep the contest close.Coming out of halftime down a mere three points, the Jets quickly fell apart. Following a punt on the first drive, the Vikings not only scored their second touchdown of the day they also picked off Darnold to set up a field goal. Down 20-7, the Jets added a field goal of their own but the momentum would firmly stay on the visitors’ side: Minnesota scored another touchdown early in the fourth period to went up by 17.A quarterback sneak by Darnold made it a two-possession game again Montee Ball Jersey Salute to Service , but the Jets failed to make the game any closer: two more interceptions led to 10 more Vikings points to put the game out of reach. Ultimately, New York had its moments but in between them made to many errors to stay competitive for 60 minutes.To watch highlights of the game, click here.4. Buffalo Bills (2-5)Week 7: 37-5 loss against the Indianapolis Colts, in Indianapolis INWith starting quarterback Josh Allen out due to an elbow injury – one that will also force him to miss next Monday’s game against the Patriots – the Buffalo Bills turned to Derek Anderson (20/31, 175 yds, 3 INTs) over former second-stringer Nathan Peterman. The results were still bad: while Buffalo’s offense was already inconsistent with Allen and even worse with Peterman at the helm, Anderson did little to help the unit.What also hurt the Bills was starting running back LeSean McCoy (2/1 yd) suffering a concussion on just his second play of the day. Despite that, Buffalo was able to hold its game against the Indianapolis Colts close for the first 15 minutes. However, the scoreless tie was broken early in the second period with a Colts touchdown. Just five plays later, the Bills turned the football over when Charles Clay (3/14 yds) lost a fumble.The give away set up the home team’s second touchdown of the day – and it was far from done. After a Bills three-and-out, Indianapolis again sliced through Sean McDermott’s defense: marching 82 yards in nine plays, the Colts were able to score their third touchdown of the second quarter. Following an interception by Anderson, Indianapolis added three more points to take a 24-0 halftime lead.Coming out of the half, the Bills produced their best drive of a day: the team went 56 yards in 12 plays to get on the scoreboard with a Steven Hauschka (1/1) field goal. Late in the third quarter, Buffalo was able to add two more points via a safety. Cutting the deficit to 19 points can be seen as the team’s high point of the day as the team went back to full collapse mode as soon as the fourth quarter started.Just two plays into the final period, Anderson lost a fumble. Three plays later, the Colts scored another touchdown to go up 31-5. A failed fourth down attempt and another interception later, Buffalo was down 37-5. The quarterback’s third pick of the day did not change anything but Indianapolis’ fantasy points. T’was a bad day for the Patriots’ next opponent.To watch highlights of the game, click here.