This update just confirms my suspicions that Belichick didn't take Sashi seriously enough to bother.
Several people have written posts to make it sound like BB chose a 2nd from the 49ers over a 1st-rounder from the Browns. But even in the original article, it's pretty clear that the Browns never actually got the chance to make an offer at the trade deadline.
My guess is that Sashi overplayed his hand (or played it extremely poorly) during the draft, and BB had no desire to deal with that idiot again. I suspect Cleveland was willing to offer up the 1st but didn't at first, and played all sorts of stupid games trying to get Jimmy for cheap so BB didn't take them seriously and moved on from them.
People think that BB traded Jimmy to San Fran as a goodwill gesture or to do good by Jimmy. But thinking back on past trades, it feels like BB doesn't try to extract every single last bit of value out of any trade. I think he looks for an easy and fair deal, and looks long-term. Think about the Cassell deal. Apparently he made the deal with the Chiefs, but Josh was willing to pay more. But he had already given his word to KC. Sure, it was Pioli, but I don't think he chose to help Pioli over Josh. I think it was about his word and what it means long-term.
So he could have bid Pioli and Josh against each other to try and drive up the price on Cassell. But he felt he was getting good value and he gave his word on the deal, and it was important to keep it for the long-term. And I think others like Sashi try to nickel and dime every little bit, and BB had no interest in going through that. I could see a scenario where Sashi went back on the deal a few different times, trying to nickel and dime BB.
This is totally hypothetical, but I could absolutely see Sashi being a **** to deal with. Like I could see him offering Cleveland's 3rd for Collins, and when BB agrees, Sashi turns around and says, "OH I can't do that, but what about our comp 3rd?" Then BB might agree, only Sashi says, "What about our 4th and 6th? I mean the 4th is high in the round, it's not that much different than the comp 3rd." And only when BB gets fed up and threatens to give up would Sashi eventually go back to a previous offer. Again, totally fabricated, but I could see Sashi being a total **** to deal with all based on trying to maximize value.
I think BB values trust and relationships, and I don't think he had a good experience dealing with Sashi previously to the point he wasn't willing to go through that again if he could get similar value elsewhere with 90% less headache. And I could see Sashi's desire to squeeze every last bit of value in the short-term costing him in the long-term, while BB is willing to take less in the short-term for more long-term gain like a good trading partner.
None of that is verifiable, and BB will never discuss any of it. But some of his past actions, his consistent trade partners or his unwillingness to deal with certain GMs seems to reflect something similar to that.
