The Patriots and Steelers are fierce rivals on the football field, but they connected for an interesting trade during the first round of the NFL Draft.
Pittsburgh gave New England the 120th overall pick to move up from 17th to 14th in the first round on Thursday night.
The Steelers moved ahead of the Commanders and Jets to select offensive tackle Broderick Jones while the Patriots were still able to get cornerback Christian Gonzalez while adding a mid-round pick.
Bill Belichick was able to add an extra pick while also perhaps getting one over on his division rival.
Andrew Fillipponi of the Audacy Original Podcast “1st & Pod” is convinced that something may have happened with Belichick wanting to screw over the Jets by allowing the Steelers to move ahead of the Patriots and draft Jones.
“I’m convinced something happened here with the Jets, Patriots, Washington, and Steelers,” Fillipponi said (10:00 in player above). “So the Steelers went from 17 to 14. The Steelers assistant GM, Andy Weidl, who came over from Philly is like best friends with the Jets GM Joe Douglas. They like the same type of players. They probably scouted the draft the same exact way. They also as teams have very similar needs.
“I am convinced that the Steelers knew that the Jets were going to take Broderick Jones at [15]. And if there’s one thing Bill Belichick loves doing it’s f—ing over the Jets.”
Belichick is primarily known for building a dynasty in New England but he had a short stint in New York prior to that. He was set to succeed Bill Parcells as the Jets head coach after the 1999 season but resigned via a note on a napkin one day after his hiring became public.
“Belichick loathes the Jets. Now he needs a corner and he knows if he makes that trade, if the Steelers tell him ‘We’re going up to get Jones. You have our word,’” Fillipponi continued. “The Jets aren’t taking a corner. They just picked Sauce Gardner. So he can get the corner that he wants, get an extra pick, and eff his former employer.
“So I think that’s why you had a very seldomly-done thing where the Steelers and Patriots made a trade with each other. I like that the Steelers were aggressive and got, for me, the last sure first-round pick left tackle.”
With Jones off the board to Pittsburgh at 14, the Jets were forced to turn to defensive end Will McDonald IV out of Iowa State while the Patriots were still able to get cornerback Christian Gonzalez with the 17th overall pick.
It may not look like much, but this has all the makings of a savvy move by Belichick.
Related
LISTEN on the Audacy App
Sign Up and Follow Audacy Sports
Facebook | Twitter | Instagram