The Jets’ history of draft woes somehow continues to get worse.
In 2001, a year after Bill Belichick had spurned the Jets to become head coach of the New England Patriots, their AFC East rivals were at it again — this time in the NFL Draft.
The Jets were interested in Purdue offensive lineman Matt Light in the second round with the 49th overall pick. The Patriots also wanted Light, but had the 50th pick.
The Patriots did not know the Jets wanted Light, though, but former executive Scott Pioli recalled how the team was able to find out they needed to trade up during an appearance on NFL Network’s “Good Morning Football” this week.
“We were at 50, the Jets were at 49, the Lions were at 48,” he said. “Around pick 45, 46, that’s when you start reaching out to a group of players who might be available that you might pick.
“I pick up the phone, I called Matt Light. Matt says, ‘Hey, Scott. How you doing?’ ‘I’m good. Have you heard from anybody?’ He says, ‘Well, I’m actually on the phone with the Jets. They’re on hold right now. They’re staying on the phone with me because they want to pick me at their pick.’
“I look at the board and I see they’re at 49, we’re at 50. Matt Light was the guy we wanted so badly. Before I jumped off the phone I said, ‘Matt, don’t tell anyone that I just called. Make sure that you don’t tell any team the Patriots just called because you don’t want to. Give it up.’
“The good news is he had given up that he was on the phone with the Jets. Bill [Belichick] and I start burning up the phone lines prior to the Jets’ pick, talked to [former Lions GM] Matt Millen. I can’t remember if it was a fifth or sixth he wanted for us to move up two spots. So, while Matt Light is still on the phone with the Jets, we execute the trade, jump up two spots, get right ahead of the New York Jets and at pick 48 we draft Matt Light and get who becomes a Patriots Hall of Fame player for us during that time.”
The Jets, meanwhile, drafted running back LaMont Jordan with the next pick. Jordan was decent but his career was hardly memorable, playing four seasons in New York before stops in Oakland, New England and Denver.
Light, on the other hand, protected Tom Brady’s blindside for 11 seasons en route to three Super Bowl titles.
“But again, had the Jets maybe told Matt Light not to say anything about who he was on the phone with, we wouldn’t have made that trade to get up because we didn’t know that was their guy,” Pioli said. “So, you got to keep things on the down low.”
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