The New England Patriots’ biggest need heading out of the first wave of free agency perfectly aligns with the biggest strength of the 2023 NFL Draft.

The Patriots still need help at cornerback, and specifically, they need a physical cornerback who can match up with bigger wide receivers.

ESPN’s Mel Kiper Jr. had nothing but good things to say about the cornerback class in this year’s draft, via ESPN’s Mike Reiss.

Need a corner? ESPN Senior Draft analyst @MelKiperESPN calls that position the "deepest in the draft, by far" and projects that as many as 35-40 CBs from the 2023 class can play in the NFL.

CB is arguably the Patriots' No. 1 need.

— Mike Reiss (@MikeReiss) March 22, 2023

Reiss passed along that Kiper called cornerback the “deepest (position) in the draft, by far" and that 35 to 40 cornerbacks in the draft can play in the NFL.

Kiper had five cornerbacks in the first round of his latest mock draft, including Penn State’s Joey Porter Jr. going to the Patriots. Kiper’s top five cornerbacks are Illinois’ Devon Witherspoon, Oregon’s Christian Gonzalez, Porter, Mississippi State’s Emmanuel Forbes and Maryland’s Deonte Banks. ESPN’s Jordan Reid included South Carolina’s Cam Smith in his top five, while ESPN’s Matt Miller had DJ Turner on his list.

The Patriots released Jalen Mills but plan to bring him back as a safety, The Score's Jordan Schultz reported Wednesday, leaving the team with Jonathan Jones, Jack Jones, Marcus Jones, Myles Bryant, Shaun Wade, Quandre Mosely and Rodney Randle at cornerback. New England could field a secondary with their current roster, but there's a hole at starting cornerback and free safety.

If the Patriots don't use their first-round pick on a cornerback, then offensive tackle and wide receiver are their next-biggest needs in the draft.