The New England Patriots pulled off an interesting bit of business on Saturday afternoon, as they traded wide receiver Ja’Lynn Polk and a 2026 seventh-round pick to the New Orleans Saints in exchange for a 2026 sixth-round pick.

By trading Polk, the Patriots decided to cut bait with a player they selected in the second round of the draft just one year ago. Polk struggled mightily as a rookie and then was placed on injured reserve with a shoulder injury ahead of the 2025 campaign.

The selection of Polk was a head-scratcher in real time, and sure enough, the bold decision from New England’s front office didn’t pan out. The problem is that drafting Polk wasn’t the only bad decision the team made in last year’s draft.

In fact, we are reaching the point where the selection of Drake Maye with the No. 3 overall pick may be the only good pick the team made. With Polk gone, just four players from this draft class are left in town, and besides Maye, only one of them is currently on the 53-man roster.

There’s a chance that Caedan Wallace, Layden Robinson or Marcellas Dial pan out moving forward, but the odds aren’t looking great. Both Wallace and Robinson struggled during training camp, and while Dial appeared to be in contention for a roster spot before he tore his ACL in August, he almost certainly would not be earning starting snaps right now.

Bad drafts have haunted New England as of late, and while there’s reason to believe the 2025 draft is going to be better, the lack of talent the team added in last year’s draft is stunning. Hopefully, Maye can assert himself as a superstar, because if he can’t, the Pats’ 2024 draft class could go down as one of the worst of all time.