Could Patriots fix O-line woes by trading for this disgruntled tackle?

Patriots

Kolton Miller was ranked as the 14th-best tackle out of 141 by PFF in 2024.

By Conor Ryan

April 17, 2025 | 7:07 PM

2 minutes to read

With the 2025 NFL Draft just a week away, signs point to the Patriots targeting a tackle like LSU’s Will Campbell with the fourth overall pick.

The 2024 All-American would shore up a pressing need for the Patriots, given that New England’s porous O-line coughed up 52 sacks last year while routinely putting Drake Maye under duress. 

But Campbell’s lackluster arm measurements raise a few concerns about his viability as a franchise left tackle at the NFL level. Given how many holes are present on New England’s depth chart, the Patriots can’t use a fourth-overall pick on a player who is a liability at left tackle — or whose value would wane if he is pushed to the interior as a guard moving forward. 

But even if blue-chip prospects like Abdul Carter and Travis Hunter are off the board by the time the Patriots land on the clock, could New England end up shoring up their left-tackle position, while also utilizing that No. 4 pick on another top prospect like Mason Graham, Ashton Jeanty, Tyler Warren, or Jalon Walker?

Such a scenario could play out if the Patriots pounce on a trade for a disgruntled veteran left tackle in Kolton Miller. 

According to ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler, Miller isn’t participating in the Raiders’ voluntary offseason program while he seeks a contract extension. Fowler added that Las Vegas has yet to engage in contract talks with Miller, who is entering the last year of his contract with a $15.7 million cap hit for the 2025 season. 

While it remains to be seen if the Raiders would want to move on from Miller, a trade stands as a tangible conclusion in the NFL when a player is not pleased about the murky status of a future contract. 

If the Raiders start listening to trade offers for the 29-year-old tackle, the Patriots should be the first ones on the line with Las Vegas. 

A first-round pick in the 2018 NFL Draft out of UCLA, Miller has held court as one of the top tackles in the NFL over the last few seasons. 

The 6-foot-8, 325-pound Miller has played in 109 games (including 107 starts) since turning pro. During the 2024 season, Miller ranked 14th out of 141 total offensive tackles according to Pro Football Focus, earning the 11th-best pass blocking grade. 

This past year was far from an outlier, as PFF also graded him as the fifth-best tackle in the NFL in 2022, as well as the eighth-best in 2021. 

For those keeping tabs, the Patriots’ 2024 left-tackle duo of Vederian Lowe and Demontrey Jacobs ranked 102nd and 138th, respectively, among that pool of 141 OTs last season, per PFF. 

The Patriots might have to relinquish both Day 2 and Day 3 draft capital in order to pry a tackle like Miller out of Las Vegas. But New England has the assets available, as well as the cap space (a league-leading $67.6 million, per OverTheCap) on hand to both take on his current contract — and craft a heftier extension moving forward. 

There are several avenues the Patriots could take with the No. 4 pick next Thursday.

But if Miller does hit the trade market, Eliot Wolf, Mike Vrabel, and the Patriots could narrow down their list of potential draft targets if they add a stout tackle ahead of time. 

 

Conor Ryan is a staff writer covering the Bruins, Celtics, Patriots, and Red Sox for Boston.com, a role he has held since 2023.

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