After a grueling stalemate that lasted over a month, the New York Jets and Green Bay Packers finally agreed on the compensation that would send four-time MVP Aaron Rodgers to the Meadowlands.
Part of the deal involved New York and Green Bay swapping first-round picks in the 2023 draft, which was to take place only three days after the trade was completed. It was a relatively modest swap, with the Jets moving down from the 13th pick to the 15th pick.
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At least, it seemed relatively modest – until the evil “Hoodie” swooped in for one final jab at the team he coached for a single press conference.
On draft day, Bill Belichick and the New England Patriots traded the 14th pick (the slot between New York’s original pick and the pick it acquired from Green Bay) to the Pittsburgh Steelers. With that pick, Pittsburgh selected Georgia offensive tackle Broderick Jones.
Jones was a prospect the Jets were rumored to be interested in. With Rodgers in tow, improving the offensive line was expected to be New York’s top priority. The Jets had a gaping hole at the tackle position, and Jones was considered one of the best tackle prospects in the class.
Three offensive tackles had already been selected before the 14th pick, and the pre-draft consensus viewed Jones as the final prospect worthy of being drafted with a top-15 pick; hence why Pittsburgh leaped the Jets to take him. As it turns out, the consensus was accurate, as the next offensive tackle was not taken until the 27th pick.
Thus, because of the Jets’ swap in the Rodgers trade, followed by New England’s trade-down, the Jets were left without any available tackle prospects who would not be considered a reach with the 15th pick.
Immediately after Pittsburgh’s selection of Jones, fans and media members began speculating whether New England intentionally made the deal to screw the Jets over. It turns out the conspiracy theorists may have been correct.
Nearly one month after the draft, Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin virtually confirmed that Belichick indeed had the Jets in mind when making the trade.
“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.”
Yeah, this was clearly Belichick’s latest attempt to swipe at his most despised rival. And, given that it turned out to be his final season in New England, it also ended up being his final swing at the Jets.
Fast forward to October 2024, and it is beginning to look like Belichick’s final swing at the Jets was a miss, much like his final game against them.
After being denied the opportunity to select Jones, the Jets settled on Iowa State edge rusher Will McDonald. It was a shocking pick, as McDonald was widely viewed as a late-first-round prospect in the pre-draft consensus. Many mock drafts had him going in the second round. There was essentially zero buzz about McDonald as a potential first-round target for the Jets.
On top of McDonald being viewed by some as a reach at No. 15, the edge rusher position was considered to be extremely low on New York’s priority list. The Jets were already loaded with talent on the edge. It seemed like McDonald was a developmental pick at a position of strength – going into a win-now season, no less.
Missing out on Jones and settling for McDonald was labeled as a failure by many critics. Well, as we sit here four weeks into the 2024 season, it seems that Belichick may have done the Jets an enormous favor.
Jones, who has started all four games at right tackle for Pittsburgh, is tied for the second-most sacks allowed among tackles this season with four. Jones also ranks 67th out of 72 qualified tackles (min. 100 snaps) with an overall Pro Football Focus grade of 50.6.
Meanwhile, McDonald has already recorded 5.0 sacks, tying him for the third-most in the NFL through four weeks. And it’s not just the sacks, either. McDonald is also tied for fifth in the league with 8 quarterback hits, while his 15.7% pressure rate ranks 12th-best among the 64 edge rushers with at least 70 pass-rush snaps, per Pro Football Focus.
“Needs” change quickly in the NFL. McDonald seemed like a luxury pick at the time, but 21 games later, he has become an absolute necessity for a Jets team that has already lost its top three edge rushers from the 2023 season. Without his second-year leap, the Jets’ pass rush would be in dire straits right now. Instead, McDonald has kept the Jets afloat while they work on finding solutions around him.
Out in Pittsburgh, Jones does not look like a player the Jets are disappointed to be without.
We’re only four games into these players’ second seasons, so there is plenty of time to see where their careers end up. Nonetheless, at this moment in time, it sure feels like the Jets are on pace to come out as major winners from the game of musical chairs that took place in the 2023 draft. The fact that it came as the result of an attempted dig by Belichick makes it even sweeter.
