The New England Patriots have been endlessly linked to Colorado Buffaloes superstar Travis Hunter, as they own the fourth pick in the NFL Draft and Hunter may be available for them.
Hunter worked out at Colorado's Pro Day on Friday, so you would expect a large contingency of Patriots executives to be in attendance, right?
Well, apparently, New England only sent one representative to watch Hunter, with Albert Breer of Sports Illustrated reporting that vice president of player personnel Ryan Cowden was on site.
Considering that the Pats are rumored to be highly enamored with Hunter, this is pretty odd, especially when you take into account that they sent nine execs to watch Drake Maye at North Carolina's Pro Day a year ago.
Of course, that was somewhat of a different regime, as Jerod Mayo was head coach rather than Mike Vrabel, but this still seems like a rather odd development regardless.
Hunter is coming off of a brilliant 2024 campaign in which he hauled in 96 receptions for 1,258 yards and 15 touchdowns as a wide receiver. He also posted 36 tackles, four interceptions and 11 passes defended playing cornerback, and his efforts landed him the Heisman Trophy.
The 21-year-old is widely viewed as a generational talent and could very well be off the board before the Patriots even pick at No. 4, but if he is available, you would have to think New England would jump at the opportunity to nab him.
Perhaps the Pats like Hunter so much and are so convinced he is going to be a superstar that they feel they don't even need to send many reps to watch him?
Seems unlikely, but maybe Vrabel just operates under the belief that you don't need a ton of executives in the building to watch one player.
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