‘No Hesitation ‘ Steelers Coach Mike Tomlin Reveals Patriots Draft Trade View
The New England Patriots dominance over the New York Jets since Bill Belichick arrived in Foxboro is not just exclusive to on the football field.
An NFL Draft trade between the Patriots and the Pittsburgh Steelers saw New England move down from No. 14 to 17 overall, which would end up netting them Christian Gonzalez.
While the Patriots got what they wanted from the trade with the Steelers, they thwarted the plans of the Jets, who were sitting at No. 15. Following their trade for Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers, many believed that the Jets would be looking to take an offensive tackle.
But Belichick had other plans for them as he traded down with the Steelers, who were moving up to take Georgia's Broderick Jones, effectively denying New York the opportunity to take a tackle with their first-round pick.
In a recent interview with Rich Eisen, Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin talked about this series of events and how they unfolded during the draft.
“There was a run on the position starting, I think, with Darnell Wright at about 10 and they were coming off pretty clean,” said Tomlin. “And we had that as a position of priority and we had Broderick, as an individual, as a priority. We knew with the acquisition of Aaron Rodgers, (the Jets) might be fishing in those waters. We did what we needed to do to get the player at a position we coveted.”
It cost Pittsburgh the No. 17 and 120 overall picks to take the No. 14 selection off the Patriots' hands. And by the sound of it, the trade worked out for both parties as New England got their guy in Gonzalez, while the Steelers got Jones, yet the Jets weren't so lucky.
In the immediate aftermath of the trade, reports began to surface that the move by the Patriots to stiff-arm the Jets of their pick was intentional, leading Eisen to ask about that dynamic during the interview.
“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,” Tomlin said. “I’ll put it this way, there wasn’t a lot of hesitation on New England’s end.”
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