Finally, tonight we’ll get some answers.

We’ll finally find out who the apple of the New England Patriots eyes are with the first round of the National Football League’s draft held in Cleveland.

And we’ll finally end the ridiculous bulletins that say “So and so is reporting that the Patriots are doing homework on Mac Jones.”

Holy Knute Rockne. No kidding, ace. They do their homework on everyone.

It was getting ridiculous. But you really wonder whether the Patriots will finally go for a quarterback in this first round.

We say no. But the ingredients are there. Especially with Carolina at No. 8, as the Panthers could certainly dangle that pick as, while they could use a young QB, they didn’t trade for Sam Darnold to watch him fill water buckets. But, on the other hand, they dumped veteran Teddy Bridgewater to the Broncos on Wednesday, so anything’s possible.

Would the Patriots make the move up for Justin Fields? Would they do it for Trey Lance?

Or would they rather stay at No. 15, pick up a young defensive player like Penn State linebacker Micah Parson – warning, there aren’t a ton of them in this draft. If New England wants to fish for one of the bulky defensive linemen Belichick likes, they might even -gulp – trade down.

Anything’s possible. Perhaps the Patriots want to increase their depth at corner if one is available at 15. Could be.

But the Patriots used free agency to fill a lot of holes except one – quarterback.

“It’s an interesting class.,” Belichick said last week about the QB lot. “It’s an interesting group of guys. Some are very strong in some skills. Some seem very strong in other skills.

“It’s definitely and interesting group.”

Of course, the spice in the equation comes from the fact that Niners head coach and quarterback guru Kyle Shanahan has decided that Jimmy Garoppolo is no longer a viable option at the position. Too injury prone, doesn’t have the arm accuracy, etc. Geez didn’t he take San Francisco to the Super Bowl two years ago? We don’t get it; never have.

But you have to wonder if a trade can be pulled off for Garoppolo, sending him to the Patriots. If New England drafts a QB tonight, forget it. If they don’t, well, you can probably expect Garoppolo to return to New England once the Patriots wait out the Niners on the price, which has to come down and the QB agrees to a contract restructure. Will that happen now? Or in June?

Tonight may give us the answer. Denver would have been Jimmy G’s only other viable destination, one would think, and now that’s likely out the window.

It’s all the intrigue of the NFL Draft. It’s why these silly reports keep cropping up all the time, every media member running with every rumor they’re fed.

We don’t want rumors. Tonight, we get the real deal. We get to see, hopefully, what is on Belichick’s mind. The Patriots stunned us with a flurry of free agent activity.

Could they stun us again tonight?

Like they always say, we couldn’t believe he was available at 15.

Let’s see who Roger Goodell hugs when it’s the Patriots’ time to pick.

Tom King can be reached at tking@nashuatelegraph.com, or on twitter @Telegraph _TomK.