Belichick

FOXBORO — Looking relaxed and rested, Bill Belichick met with the media at Gillette Stadium yesterday for his annual predraft news conference.

The New England Patriots’ head coach, sharing a bit of his 56th birthday with local reporters, discussed a number of topics as he and the rest of the Pats’ organization move toward putting the finishing touches on their preparations for the NFL Draft, to be held April 26-27.

Because of its trade with San Francisco last year, New England owns the seventh overall pick. It has not chosen that high since 2001, when Georgia defensive lineman Richard Seymour was taken at number six.

Over the coming days, Belichick said, the team will wrap up its in-house visits with prospects and then spend next week finalizing their grades for players, go over draft strategy and discuss some what-ifs.

“I think the process is going along like it normally does,” Belichick said. “It was a late start (because of the Super Bowl), but that’s when you want to start. So I think Scott (Pioli) and Nick Caserio and the rest of the scouting department have done a good job of researching, accessing a lot of information. We’ve had a lot of scouts on the road, we’ve seen a lot of people. Hopefully, we’ll be in a position to make some good decisions and try to improve our football team next week.”

Because New England’s selection is so early in the first round, it has been easier for the team to target a handful of players.

“I think we can narrow it down to a fairly small number of players. We’ve got a handful of guys that we’re considering, and maybe they’ll be there. Maybe one of them will be there. We’ll just wait and see how that goes,” Belichick said.

The NFL this year has shortened the time each team has to make its first- round pick from 15 minutes to 10, and from 10 minutes to seven for second-round selections. Rounds three through seven remain at five minutes.

Where the 10-minute limit may affect teams, Belichick said, is with trades. Trade parameters must be submitted to the league before it becomes official.

“I think it’ll be interesting to see how that goes. The five-minute timing in rounds three through seven usually isn’t too much of a problem because most of the trades are pretty straightforward. If you move up in the fourth (round), you give them your fifth-round pick. It’s pretty straightforward,” the coach said. “In some of the more complex trades that we’ve been involved with, even last year with the San Francisco trade in the first round, there’s a little more negotiating. There’s a little more back-and-forth on a trade in that round than there is in the later rounds.”

Belichick indicated that New England would likely talk to the teams “in their neighborhood” beforehand to get an idea of what they’d want in a trade or if they’d even be interested in a trade so they don’t waste time when they’re on the clock.

With tomorrow the deadline for teams to offer contracts to restricted free agents, Belichick said it is still possible they would make an offer to a player. Though his name wasn’t mentioned, the Patriots hosted Carolina linebacker Adam Seward a few weeks ago. If New England presents Seward with a deal, the Panthers would have seven days to match it and retain him. If they allow Seward to go, they’d get the Pats’ own fifth-round draft pick.

smanza@projo.com