Patriots trade up twice to acquire pair of defenders

BY NICK ST. DENIS

The Patriots had been stocking up on offense since finishing a season in which they were ranked second-worst on defense. They were just saving up for the draft.

New England traded up twice Thursday night, selecting two defensive players in the first round of the NFL Draft in Syracuse defensive end Chandler Jones and Alabama linebacker Dont'a Hightower.

The Patriots traded their No. 27 (originally from the Saints) and third-rounder to the Bengals in order to get to No. 21 and snatch up Jones. New England then dealt its 31st-overall pick and a fourth-rounder to the Broncos for their No 25 pick in an effort to obtain Hightower.

"I thought we had a good day today," Patriots coach Bill Belichick told the media late Thursday night. "As usual, the draft always takes some interesting twists and turns. You just never know how it's going to go."

Jones was an All-Big East selection in 2011, as the 6-foot-5, 265-pounder amassed 38 tackles and 4.5 sacks. Hightower won a pair of National Championships as the defenses signal-caller and tallied 85 total tackles in 13 games as a junior.

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