The New England Patriots wanted Utah offensive tackle Caleb Lomu and were willing to trade up to get him.The Buffalo Bills traded their No. 28 selection in Thursday’s first round of the 2026 NFL Draft to New England in exchange for picks No. 31 and No. 125 to select Lomu. In the process, the Patriots helped make University of Utah history, as the selections of Lomu and Spencer Fano (No. 9, Cleveland Browns) marked the first time that two Ute players were picked in the first round of the NFL draft.“Ultimately, with Caleb still on the board, we just felt like giving up the extra pick to make sure that we could acquire him was important,” said Patriots general manager Eliot Wolf.In Lomu, the Patriots are getting a player who has proven himself over two years as the Utes’ starting left tackle.
Named to the All-Big 12 first team after the 2025 season, Lomu allowed only eight pressures and no sacks in his redshirt sophomore season in Salt Lake City. The 6-foot-6, 313-pound Lomu has exceptional athleticism for his size and excels when getting to display that, like when he is blocking in space. Per NFL.com, Lomu’s combine “production score” was the third-best among offensive tackles and helped him move up some draft boards.Lomu’s footwork and technique pop when watching tape.“Big athletes like this are hard to come by, especially later in the first round like this, so don’t want to set him up for any wild comparisons or anything like that, but just really, really happy that we were able to acquire him,” Wolf said.
Entering the draft, New England was confident that Lomu would be gone when it selected and actually canceled the former Ute’s pre-draft visit to its facility (the Patriots visited with Lomu at the NFL draft combine), but when the board fell in a favorable way, Wolf knew he had to make his move.“There’s still some good players at tackle and guard as well, but we felt like there was a dropoff (after Lomu) and we felt like, again, just this best player available type situation for us at that point,” Wolf said.What does the future look like for Lomu in his rookie season in Foxborough? Despite an up-and-down rookie season, the Patriots will continue to roll with Will Cambpell at left tackle, meaning any playing time for Lomu would come on the right side of the ball.With veteran Morgan Moses holding down the right tackle spot, the plan appears to be to have Lomu learn from Moses and possibly take on a bigger role in 2027.“Caleb has some versatility, so we feel like some of the pro day workouts that he did were on the right side and we were comfortable with that.
Again, he’s very athletic, so I don’t think either side will be a problem for him,” Wolf said.Lomu, surrounded by friends and family at a watch party in Arizona, hugged his wife immediately after receiving the life-changing phone call.THIS MOMENT 🥹@CalebLomu51 | @Utah_Footballpic.twitter.com/aDRJprfFky— New England Patriots (@Patriots) April 24, 2026“Just saw my phone ringing. It kind of went blank from there, and then I answered the phone and talked to all the coaches and the owner and all that,” Lomu said.“I’m trying to remember the whole thing. It kind of went blank, but it was such a surreal feeling, something I’ve been waiting for my entire life, so when it actually happened, it’s a moment I’ll remember for the rest of my life.”Lomu has the opportunity to join a Patriots team on the upswing.
New England is a season removed from a Super Bowl appearance and has a young, exciting quarterback in Drake Maye.“What they got going there, especially their offense that I’ll be a part of and just their team, they’re on the rise and it’s amazing,” Lomu said. “Drake Maye is such a talented quarterback. I’m so excited to be able to work with him every day, be able to protect him.
“I’m a protector. I’m an offensive lineman. It’s my job to protect that guy, and I’m going to do everything that I can to protect him, so being able to go to work with him now is going to be amazing.”One of the first of many people to text Lomu after the selection was Campbell, his future New England teammate, who told him that he couldn’t wait to work with him.As the picks wore on Thursday night, there was nothing Lomu could do except wait, and when the waiting came to a merciful end, it was euphoria.
“It was definitely a long evening. I mean, just the whole day in general. I always just knew God that had a plan for me wherever I was to go.
A lot of emotions going through my body throughout the entire round, but I always knew wherever I ended up is going to be the right place for me in the right situation,” Lomu said. “And I can tell you that it is going to be, and so a lot of emotions going through — nerves, excitement, all of the above, but once I saw that number pop up on my phone, it was all excitement.”As he met with New England reporters for the first time, Lomu made sure to thank Kyle Whittingham and Utah for preparing him for the NFL.“Kyle Whittingham was an amazing coach. I’m