JoeSixPat

... that was awsommme!



....especially now that the Jets are trying to offload him, hoping for a third round pick, so they don't have to pay his salary and bonus money

Man - too bad it wasn't MangIdiot who made that deal... still, you gotta wonder what Jets fans think knowing they had, if memory serves, #13 and #22 and just have Dewayne Roberston's deadweight contract to show for it.

Perhaps others can corroborate, but I'm 99% sure that BB was making noises about taking the Patriots own picks at #14 and #19 and jumping ahead of the Jets to grab a player both teams wanted (sound familiar?). We of course wound up turning #19 into Vince Wilfork the following year and moved up one spot after the Jets needlessly blew two 1st round picks to take Robertson at #4.

It's gotta hurt even more knowing how many other options they had at #4 beyond Robertson - or which guys they could have had at #13 and #22 had they not been spooked trying to second guess what Belichick was going to do!

A few of the 2003 guys could have had at #4 are:

Terence Newman
Terrell Suggs
Kevin Williams, and
Marcus Trufant

And had they kept thier picks they could possibly have had TWO of the following:

Ty Warren
Troy Polamalu
Dallas Clark
Larry Johnson
Calvin Pace (well, it took them 5 years and $42 million, but they finally got him)
Eugene Wilson

And probably a few others!

Feel free to tell me if I'm remembering this wrong but it does go to illustrate not just how Belichick uses the draft to make his own team better - but how his mind games can prompt other teams to make moves that wind up weakening them in the long run.

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slash83

yup jets are retarded

JoeSixPat

Now I'm not saying Robertson's a bust - but was he worth the #4 pick?

I don't think so - and when one considers all the Jets current needs and how they squandered two solid 1st round picks.... well its just a slam dunk for Belichick, making the Jets think that HE was willing to trade up to grab Robertson, when instead, he used his two first rounders for Ty Warren and Vince Wilfork.

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JoePats

Warren was 03 and Wilfork was 04. The 2nd first rounder in 04 was Ben Watson.

JoeSixPat

Go back and check to see who the Patriots used their #19 pick on in '03.

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patchick

Serious question: do we actually know that BB didn't covet Robertson?

JoeSixPat

Again, I'll have to go back and check but I believe he denied he was seriously considering trading up once the draft was over... but since when was BB ever truly open about such things?

Here's something from Patsfans that at least corroborates the pre-draft rumors that Belichick coveted Robertson, whether he truly did or was just trying to get the Jets to expend an extra #1

http://www.patsfans.com/bob/display_...?story_id=2202

Here's something from the NY Times

http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpag...57C0A9659C8B63

What was fishy to us at the time was how much talk there was about the Patriots trading up - and that it was a rope a dope to get the Jets to make that move. Normally if Belichick is really interested in a player or trading up, he'd not be as open as he was in regard to a trade with the Bears.

Of course no one knows how anyone is going to work out in the draft - yet for some reason to me, it sounds if Belichick really wanted to be at #4 he wouldn't have let a later round draft pick hold it up - and indeed there were other possible trading partners as well.

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dhamz

If I had to guess, it is far more likely the Bears spooked the Jets ino thinking they had the Pats ready to trade up than BB playing games with the Jets.

Both other teams and player agents know the Pats organizational disdain for the media means that you can leak their interest (real or imagined) to the press (even better if you leak it to the Boston press giving it more cred) and not worry the Pats will deny it like most other teams will.

I have no doubt BB took some satisfaction in letting the Jets know they had been duped by this tactic but I doubt he was spending his time messing with the Jets when in the midst of preparing for the most important day of the offseason.

JoeSixPat

That's where I'm not so sure... a division rival (the Jets no less) had two first round draft picks... (as did the Patriots).

Belichick knows there's as much a strategic advantage in weakening a rival as there is in strengthening his own team

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JoePats

Ah good call.

What was BB's opinion of Robertson? Maybe he wanted to trade up too but was unwilling to make such a significant offer.