When the Pittsburgh Steelers needed to trade up in the first round of the 2023 NFL Draft to address their offensive line needs, they found an unlikely ally. Head coach Mike Tomlin and general manager Omar Khan made a deal with the franchise Tomlin has shared his disgust about several times: Bill Belichick’s New England Patriots.
The Patriots agreed to a deal that allowed Pittsburgh to jump from the 17th pick to No. 14 at the relatively low cost of a fourth round selection. So why was Belichick happy to slide back three spots and take a minor loss when it comes to his own estimated trade value chart?
Because he got to mess with the New York Jets in the process.
Allowing the Steelers to slide up the draft board gave them a chance to select Broderick Jones, the last top tier tackle prospect in the 2023 class. That came one spot ahead of the needy Jets. Instead of sating Aaron Rodgers with an athletic young left tackle, Belichick’s deal forced them to address the defense instead.
“We were speculating [that the Jets were targeting Jones] there,” Tomlin told Rich Eisen on the Rich Eisen Show. “There was a run on the position starting, I think, with [Chicago Bears pick] Darnell Wright at about 10 and they were coming off pretty clean. And we had that as a position of priority and we had Broderick, as an individual, as a priority. We knew that [New York], with Aaron Rodgers, might be fishing in those waters.
“I’m not gonna delve into the relationship between New England and the Jets. Let’s just say I’m glad we found a partner … I’ll put it this way. There wasn’t a lot of hesitation on New England’s end.”
Belichick got an extra fourth round pick AND got to pick up one of the draft’s biggest bargains when top cornerback prospect Christian Gonzalez slid all the way to the 17th pick. The Steelers got the tackle they’ll need to prop up Kenny Pickett’s chances to be a franchise quarterback. And the Jets still made out fine, pumping up their pass rush with Iowa State stud Will McDonald IV.
So everyone won in that deal — one made possible between two rivals because the enemy (Pittsburgh) of Bill Belichick’s enemy (New York) is his friend.
