Why Patriots canceled Caleb Lomu 30-visit before drafting him

FOXBOROUGH, Mass — Eliot Wolf never thought that Utah offensive tackle Caleb Lomu would still be available when the New England Patriots were finally on the clock during the first round of the 2026 NFL Draft.

And because of that, Wolf revealed that the Patriots actually canceled the prospect's 30-visit ahead of the draft for that reason.

"Obviously, the testing was excellent," Wolf said when asked about what Lomu did in the draft process that stood out. "We interviewed him at the Combine. That was great.

"We actually canceled his 30-visit because we didn't – we had one scheduled and we just didn't think he was going to factor in for us. We thought he'd be gone."

As for Lomu, he didn't take the cancellation personally, as he was confident about his visit with them at the NFL combine.

"No, I wasn’t shocked by that or thought differently," he told reporters on a video call shortly after being drafted. "I think maybe it was just to check my medical, but I had a clean medical. So, it didn’t throw me by surprise. I always thought they were still in the mix, and of course they were. But I’m very happy they were still in the mix and still wanted me."

Lomu added that the Patriots are a "great organization," and he was able to remain confident that they were "in the mix" simply because he "wanted them to be in the mix."

"Such an amazing team," he added. "It’s a place I wanted to be and a team I always wanted to play for. Maybe it was me just wanting them super bad. Once I got that call though, it was crazy."

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This article originally appeared on Patriots Wire: Why Patriots canceled Caleb Lomu 30-visit before drafting him