As the first wave of free agency fades, the New England Patriots turn their attention to the upcoming NFL Draft. An important part of the draft process is inviting players to visit the team’s Gillette Stadium facilities, the first of which has already been built.
Chargers R. Mason Thomas (Oklahoma State) and Romello Height (Texas Tech) reportedly plan to visit the Patriots in the near future.
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Thomas spent his entire four-year college career with the Sooners, appearing in 42 games with 20 starts. The 6-foot-2, 241-pounder totaled 17 sacks, including four forced fumbles and three receptions, and was a two-time All-SEC selection (first team in 2025, second team in 2024).
Hight had an eventful college career, spending time at Auburn (2020-21), USC (2022-23) and Georgia Tech (2024) before spending his final year at Texas Tech in 2025. He appeared in 50 games total, including 14 games last season with the Red Raiders. In those 14 games, he had 10 sacks and two forced fumbles and was named to the All-Big 12 first team.
The Patriots have shown significant interest in edge positions so far in the pre-draft process and have met with at least 11 players so far. It’s not hard to see why: Not only is this team one of the deepest in this year’s draft, but New England has needs even after acquiring Draymond Jones in free agency.
Currently, the Patriots only have five players on their outside linebacker depth chart. In addition to Jones and Harold Landry, who are expected to start, the team returns sophomores Elijah Ponder and Bredin Swinson, as well as another recent signing, Jesse Luketa.
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So it was no surprise that Thomas and Hayter were invited to visit. Whether those visits indicate any specific plans for the draft remains to be seen, but 30 visits does give us some clues about potential targets. Six of the Patriots’ 11 draft picks last year – OT Will Campbell, WR Kyle Williams, S Craig Woodson, defensive tackle Joshua Farmer, OT Marcus Bryant, cornerback Kobe Minor – later confirmed they had visited Foxborough.
So-called 30 visits allow for a broader look at prospects. While teams are not allowed to have players for any on-field workouts or workouts, those visits can still be a valuable piece of the puzzle and provide clues to outsiders’ ultimate intentions.
