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The New England Patriots have secured the No. 1 pick in the 2025 Collegiate Draft following their embarrassing 40-7 loss to the Los Angeles Chargers before a half-empty Gillette Stadium. That development, coupled with a 45-33 victory by the New York Giants over the Indianapolis Colts — the Giants first home victory of this NFL season — moved the Patriots to the top spot in the upcoming draft and dropped the G-Men down to the No. 4 slot in the draft. Some Giants fans feel this year’s team loses when it gains a rare win.

There are all kinds of speculation as to what the Patriots will do with the No. 1 draft pick. With the team’s desperate need for help on both the offensive and defensive lines, as well as in the wide receiver department, many of their fan base wants the team to trade the top pick for multiple selections.

The more significant issue for this team is on how Patriots’ management can create a team that can go to the next level. The refusal to spend millions of salary cap dollars, $38 million, and the uneven management of this team over the last few years has drawn the ire of even the most loyal Patriot fans.

In 2021, New England spent significant money to sign Kendrick Bourne, Hunter Henry, Matthew Judon, Jonnu Smith, Nelson Agholor, Jalen Mills and Davon Godchaux. Only Henry and Godchaux remain with the team. These picks may be a reason for the pause in spending.

This Eagle is flying

And while the Patriots flounder, the Philadelphia Eagles running back Saquon Barkley continues his assault on the single season rushing mark set by Hall of Fame running back Eric Dickerson in 1984. With a 167-yard rushing performance on 31 carries in his team’s 41-7 blowout home victory against the Dallas Cowboys, Barkley became the ninth player in NFL history to eclipse the magical 2,000-yard rushing mark. He has 2,005 yards with one regular-season game to play.

The sweet irony attached to this story is that he will get his chance at Dickerson’s record against the New York Giants — the team that let him go to free agency following six productive years there. It would be poetic justice for Saquon Barkley to break the Dickerson record against his old team. He didn’t want to leave the Giants, but they didn’t want to pay what he felt was fair market value for his talent.

Now Barkley can make the Giants pay in their final contest on January 5. The Eagles have a 13-3 record compared to the Giant’s dismal 3-13 regular season mark.