Draft will make a strong contender stronger

One of them casts a line in hopes of his next great catch. The other is fishing for something else - football insight.

Any guesses as to which category Bill Belichick falls into?

Johnson laughs when he tells the story of how these visits started. It was 2003, the Patriots had traded safety Tebucky Jones to the New Orleans Saints for two draft choices, and Belichick was uneasy about owning a whopping total of 13 picks in that draft.

So Belichick called Johnson, who seemed to have a knack for accumulating picks and making the right selections in his head coaching stints with the Dallas Cowboys and Miami Dolphins. Johnson was at the helm when the Cowboys traded running back Herschel Walker in the largest deal in NFL history, involving 18 players or draft picks that helped the Cowboys restock their roster and contributed to their impressive run of success in the 1990s.

"He came down, we got on the boat, and he wanted to talk about drafting players and I wanted to talk about fishing," recalled Johnson, who is now a "Fox NFL Sunday" analyst.

"He started talking about my Dallas drafts when we had numerous picks, and he recounted the draft picks better than what I could. He had done his homework, studying it before coming down. He covered all the bases. He had his agenda.

"One of the questions was about how he had extra picks, and he was concerned. The only thing I said is that picks are like money and you can always put them in the bank and they can draw interest. If nothing else, if you have those extra picks, every single draft there will be teams calling you and saying, 'I'll give you next year's 1 for your 2' or 'I'll give you next year's 2 for your 3.'

"I told him it's just like money. It's not going to lose its value. I said, 'Don't ever be afraid to have too many picks.' "

Belichick was one of the draft's wheelers and dealers that year, aggressively moving around the board to land coveted players with his extra currency.

Some of the moves were master strokes - a minor deal in the first round to select defensive end Ty Warren, and a trade up in the fourth round for cornerback Asante Samuel. Others, such as an aggressive trade in the second round for receiver Bethel Johnson, didn't produce the desired results.

Expect more of the same approach this year, with Belichick once again entering the Patriots' draft room with a bulging money clip.

The Patriots, one of the few teams to sustain success over a long stretch in the salary cap era, enter this month's draft (April 25-26) with 11 selections. They've already traded one, a fifth-rounder, to the Eagles for veteran receiver Greg Lewis.

The 11 picks tie for the second-most among NFL clubs. Six are within the first 97 selections, an impressive haul for a team that is already well-stocked.

If all goes well for Belichick and his restructured front office, the draft could be the vehicle to address long-term needs. Yet Belichick is also aware of advice that Johnson first gave him on the fishing boat in 2003 - that having so many picks can also backfire.

"There is a danger in having this number of picks, which we had a couple of occasions when I was with the Cowboys and Dolphins," said Johnson, "when you say, 'We have plenty of picks, so I can go ahead and do this and do that.' You need to value each pick and treat it as the only pick you have in the entire draft, so that you don't waste them.

"People talk about our Herschel Walker trade and the number of picks we got there, and they really don't talk about how at that time, the LA Rams had about the same number of picks in the Eric Dickerson trade. The difference in the two trades was that we utilized our picks to pick good players, and a lot of the picks with the Rams back then were wasted."

When Johnson assesses the Patriots against the rest of the NFL, he sees a franchise that has maximized its opportunities.

Now, he sees another big opportunity ahead for the club.

"I think, without question, they have pursued every avenue to upgrade their talent year after year," he said. "They have been very businesslike in retaining some of their veterans, and not retaining some. They have been very frugal in getting quality players that still have some years left in this league. On top of that, they have drafted well.

"That's what you have to do - you have to use trades, you have to use free agency, and you have to draft well. The nucleus of your football team still has to come through the draft."

Mike Reiss can be reached at mreiss@globe.com.