The addition of Corey Dillon and the possible departure of Ty Law have made it tough to tell how New England should proceed in the NFL Draft tomorrow.

09:13 AM EDT on Friday, April 23, 2004

BY TOM E. CURRAN
Journal Sports Writer

The Patriots released their Super Bowl DVD last night. It's called, "Three Games to Glory II."

Tomorrow, the NFL Draft begins. A documentary of these final 24 hours could be tentatively called, "One Day to Who Knows Who."

The two main reasons the water is so muddied around the Patriots draft plans are:

* The addition of Corey Dillon.

* The possible subtraction of Ty Law.

With Dillon added, there is no absolute "must have" position the Patriots need to fill early. They no longer have to worry about Denver grabbing Steven Jackson or Dallas leapfrogging them to grab Kevin Jones. They don't have to wring their hands about whether or not Maurice Clarett is mature enough to draft at all or whether Chris Perry can break the Big 10 jinx. They got their back -- for better or worse -- and they're good to go with Dillon.

And then there's Law, the rankled and reckless (according to Miami police, at least) cornerback. Do the Patriots swallow hard and keep him on the team because he's an outstanding player? Or do they cut ties with Ty and start rebuilding their secondary around someone else?

KRT photo The Patriots may be interested in drafting University of Miami safety Sean Taylor, who has been billed as the best safety eligible for tomorrow's draft.

If they are going to trade Law -- and the hunch here is that they are not actively shopping him but are prepared to move him -- they'd be best served doing it before 1 p.m. tomorrow. After that, the draft will begin to pick up steam as the first five picks move off the board. Any team inclined to make a deal with the Patriots that includes Law will have to know he's going to come ashore in their city looking for a new deal. And if they don't provide it, they'll be facing his wrath. Are there teams out there ready to take him on contractually without speaking to him or his agents? Not impossible, but unlikely.

If they don't deal him, they probably need either a safety or a corner in the first two rounds. If they do deal him, they definitely will need one or the other, and probably both.

And the circulating rumor that the Patriots are going to trade with Miami to get the 20th pick and then package multiple first-round picks and possibly Law to get into the top five is false. Won't happen. Hasn't been discussed.

So now take the presence of Dillon and the volatility of Law, and throw these variables in: the Patriots have no yawning void but several small ones. They are the only team in the league with multiple first-round picks so they are a target for trade offers today, tonight, tomorrow morning and every minute until they decide what they're going to do. They don't know what the 20 teams drafting ahead of them will do so they can't lock in on anybody. This draft is deep but not top-heavy so there is a possibility that the "value" giants of the NFL will decide there just isn't anyone worthy of being selected at 21.

This is what we know: the team feels its biggest areas of need are guard, tackle, corner, safety and backup quarterback. And never forget this team believes that, even if defensive line isn't an immediate need, good ones are always welcome because good linemen make every other defensive position stronger.

Every area of need mentioned has a significant dropoff after the highest-rated player. Miami's Sean Taylor is the best safety. After that, it's debatable whether anyone else merits first-round consideration. The best tackle -- Iowa's Robert Gallery -- will go in the top five. Another tackle may not go until the second round. Nobody takes guards in the first round and no corner on the board is a clear-cut top-10 pick, but someone will take one there that overvalues the rest of the corners.

The short of it is this: anyone who knows what the Patriots are going to do tomorrow should give them a call them and let them in on it. They're pretty curious, too.