Kyle Van Noy is the latest castoff to revive his NFL career with the Patriots

In October, the Patriots acquired linebacker Kyle Van Noy and a seventh-round pick from the Detroit Lions for the cost of a sixth-rounder. In the AFC Championship, the former All-American came up with a key strip that helped New England take a 33-9 lead over the Steelers.

One team’s trash became Bill Belichick’s treasure — and it’s not the first time the Patriots have rehabbed a formerly prized prospect on their road to a Super Bowl.

Van Noy had the finest season of his three-year career after being shipped out of Detroit, totaling 52 tackles and a sack over 14 games. The 2014 second-round pick is just the latest example of a low-risk acquisition making his mark for the Patriots.

The former Lion is the spiritual successor to linebacker Akeem Ayers, who rekindled his career and won Super Bowl 49 after being forsaken by the Titans in 2014. He ended up in New England in essentially the same trade as Van Noy. Their offensive counterpart is tight end Martellus Bennett, who came to Foxborough along with a sixth-round pick for the low price of a fourth-rounder.

This is nothing new for Belichick. Former players like Mike Vrabel, Larry Izzo, Wes Welker, Rodney Harrison, Antowain Smith, and Aqib Talib rehabbed or built their reputations with stops in New England. And, of course, they all genuflect at the altar of the team’s ultimate low-risk pickup: Randy Moss. Belichick picked him up for a fourth-rounder in 2007. He’d go on to set an NFL record with 23 receiving touchdowns the following fall.

These moves don’t always work out. Chad Ochocinco had little to offer a depleted receiving corps in 2011, costing the team two late-round picks in the process. Albert Haynesworth wasn’t worth the fifth-round pick price tag. Barkevious Mingo, the No. 6 pick in the 2013 NFL Draft, hasn’t made a dent outside of special teams since being sent over from Cleveland this season.

But even when these moves don’t work out, they still kind of work out. When veteran players leave in free agency, the league fills in those gaps with compensatory draft picks. The risk in acquiring these athletes gets mitigated even further when New England can turn them into the late-round selections Belichick values so much.

Van Noy wasn’t the only high draft pick castoff making plays for the Pats on Sunday. Shea McClellin washed out with the Bears after being a first-round selection in 2012. He signed an under-the-radar deal with New England last summer and put together a solid season before making his presence felt in the AFC Championship. He was a major component of the defensive effort that turned first-and-goal from a foot away into a 23-yard field goal late in the second quarter.

Cornerback Eric Rowe, obtained from the Eagles for a 2018 fourth-round pick, made big plays as well. The 2015 second-round selection stepped in front of an underthrown Ben Roethlisberger bomb to effectively shut the door on Pittsburgh’s slim comeback chances.

New England’s ability to wring value from low-risk, high-reward players takes plenty of pressure from the franchise’s shoulders each spring. If the Patriots struggle in the draft, they’ll just find a way to rehab someone else’s busted picks instead. On Sunday, Van Noy, McClellin, and Rowe showcased that familiar shrewdness once more.