The New England Patriots and the Pittsburgh Steelers pulled off a trade in the first round of the 2023 NFL Draft. New England entered the night with the No. 14 pick, while Pittsburgh sat at 17. They ended up swapping those, with the Steelers sending an extra fourth-round selection (the 120th pick this year) to the Patriots.
Pittsburgh was able to get one of the top offensive tackles in the Draft, Georgia’s Broderick Jones, while New England got a steal at 17 in Oregon’s Christian Gonzalez. But above everything else, the Patriots got something Bill Belichick values more than any player: the chance to pull a fast one on the New York Jets.
According to Jason La Canfora of the Washington Post, Belichick did this trade and got back a slightly lower than expected return because, per a general manager, it gave the Steelers the chance to take the player New York really wanted.
“They should have had to give up a [third-round pick] and not a four to move up there,” said one NFL general manager who had been keeping tabs on a potential trade up with the Patriots. He spoke on the condition of anonymity because he did not want to cause potential conflicts with either team. “Belichick did it just to f— the Jets. He sold low because he knew the Steelers were going to take the kid the Jets wanted to take.”
A personnel executive from a team also picking around the middle of the first round said: “Bill will try to screw them over any chance he gets. He knew exactly what he was doing.”
Jones would have been an excellent addition for the Jets as they look to bolster the offensive line in front of Aaron Rodgers. The funny thing is, if not for the Rodgers trade, New York would have had the 13th overall pick, where it could have taken Jones. Instead, the Green Bay Packers went 13th (they took Lukas Van Ness, a defensive end out of Iowa), while the Jets surprisingly selected Will McDonald IV, a pass rushing specialist out of Iowa State. La Canfora reported that the Jets “coveted” Jones, so I suppose it would not be a surprise to learn that Belichick wanted to use this to his advantage.