The Pittsburgh Steelers traded up in the first round of the 2023 NFL draft to assure they could select former Georgia offensive tackle Broderick Jones. Most pundits said the Steelers made the move to get ahead of the New York Jets.
But it seems the Steelers didn’t need to make a trade at all. Here you can hear Jets general manager Joe Douglas literally predict the Steelers would trade ahead of them with the New England Patriots (which happened) to select Jones, meanwhile, former Iowa State edge Will McDonald IV was their top target the entire time.
Was this a mistake by the Steelers front office? In the big picture, not at all. After giving up a fourth to get Jones, they made another trade later in the draft to get the pick back so the net result is still a win for the Steelers.
Joe literally predicted the future 😲
E2 of Flight 23: Ascension ➜ https://t.co/R9JoMgOdMe pic.twitter.com/pHelL02ATH
— New York Jets (@nyjets) May 26, 2023
