Mike Tomlin stated there ‘wasn’t quite a lot of hesitation’ from the Patriots to let the Steelers leapfrog the Jets within the draft

Patriots

New England was a prepared companion as Pittsburgh pursued an offensive deal with New York might have coveted.

Mike Tomlin and Invoice Belichick embrace after a recreation. Joe Sargent/Getty Photos

Because the Pittsburgh Steelers noticed offensive tackles fly off the board early within the first spherical of the NFL Draft, head coach Mike Tomlin realized they’d possible need to make a commerce with the intention to land a extremely coveted one themselves.

Tomlin suspected that the New York Jets is likely to be “fishing in these waters,” so he gave Patriots head coach Invoice Belichick a name. Pittsburgh gave New England the No. 17 and No. 120 total picks in alternate for No. 14.

The Steelers took Georgia offensive deal with Broderick Jones, and the Jets ended up deciding on Iowa State edge rusher Will McDonald IV.

“We did what we would have liked to do to get the participant at a place we coveted,” Tomlin stated on The Wealthy Eisen Present.

Belichick is commonly in favor of buying and selling down, in order that wasn’t a shock, however Tomlin – like many others – suspects that will not have been Belichick’s solely motive.

He didn’t wish to speculate, however he implied that Pittsburgh leapfrogging New York might have supplied Belichick with some added incentive.

“I’m not gonna delve into the connection between New England and the Jets. Let’s simply say I’m glad we discovered a companion,” Tomlin stated. “I’ll put it this fashion, there wasn’t quite a lot of hesitation on New England’s finish.”

This corroborates stories that surfaced shortly after the information broke.

“The Jets’ legwork for among the high tackles, Jones included, was not a secret,” ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler wrote on the time. “Once we requested an AFC exec whether or not the Jets needs to be pissed off with Pittsburgh, the exec jokingly countered, ‘They need to be mad on the Patriots. They knew what was happening.’”

The Patriots chosen Oregon cornerback Christian Gonzalez with the No. 17 choose.

Originally posted 2023-05-20 21:21:04.