The endless speculation, rumors and various other draft-related rhetoric finally comes to an end on Thursday, but there are still plenty of questions. While we’ll have to wait another couple of days to find the answers, there’s been enough information floating around the league to make some educated guesses.

That said, here are some thoughts on things related to the weekend.

From the end of the season until now all indications seem to point toward the Patriots taking a quarterback at No. 3. Nothing has happened during that time that has changed my mind. Jerod Mayo and Eliot Wolf have spoken about the importance of the position, and Mayo’s comments the day he was hired pointed toward pulling the trigger at the game’s most important position. Ultimately, I expect either Jayden Daniels or Drake Maye to be the pick.

One minor concern stemming from the past couple of weeks involves the Patriots references to being “open for business” when it comes to a trade. Understanding that it’s good business to listen to any and all offers, and trying to increase a potential deal makes sense, it would be comforting to hear Wolf and Mayo sounding confident in sticking at 3 and knowing at least one of the quarterbacks they love will be available. Not necessarily looking for the identity of the pick, but it’s hard to imagine so many references to trades if in fact the new brain trust was sold on the next quarterback.

That said, it’s also hard to imagine anyone being interested in offering “the bag” to the Patriots to move to 3. Assuming quarterbacks go with the first two picks, it’s unlikely a team would have enough conviction in the third option to cough up significant resources to move up. If a team like Minnesota or Las Vegas were faced with the choice of sitting tight and hoping for J.J. McCarthy or Michael Penix or surrendering multiple draft picks and perhaps a quality player, the answer seems simple.