New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick never misses an opportunity.
To give grumpy answers to reporters. To make head-scratching coaching hires. And to stick it to the New York Jets. King Petty never takes a night off, even during the NFL Draft.
New England Patriots Head Coach Bill Belichick Crushes New York Jets, Yet Again
It’s not enough that Belichick has eight Super Bowl rings (including two won with the Jets’ crosstown big brothers, the New York Giants).
It’s not enough that Belichick has beaten the Jets 14 straight times, and 36 times in 46 tries as a head coach.
He always wants more. He’s as opportunistic as he is creative. Take, for example, Thursday night’s NFL Draft.
The Patriots were on the clock at pick 14, and every single prospect at one of their biggest needs – wide receiver – was still on the board.
But if you expected Belichick to do the obvious, you haven’t been paying attention. Why stay put and take the likes of Jaxon Smith-Njigba, Jordan Addison, Quentin Johnson, or Zay Flowers?
That would be so … basic.
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Instead, in one fell swoop, Belichick did two of the things loves to do the most:
He traded back and collected more draft capital.
And it exacted pain on his most hated rival.
Well, rival isn’t the right word. You’ve got to have give-and-take for it to be a rivalry.
And the Jets have done little but take it from Belichick since he abruptly resigned as their head coach in 2000 without coaching a single game. He hates the team so much that he won’t even utter its name.
So it was so on brand for Belichick to trade back in a way that robbed the Jets of the opportunity to take Georgia’s Broderick Jones, the fourth tackle off the board and last of the elite at his position.
New York, picking 15th, needed that player. Pittsburgh moved up to 14 to steal him away. The Patriots slid back from 14 to 17.
And because the Jets took pass rusher Will McDonald IV and the Washington Commanders (at 16) took Mississippi State cornerback, Emmanuel Forbes, the Patriots still had their pick of wide receivers when they went on the clock.
Who did they take?
Christian Gonzalez: a talented cornerback that will help Belichick’s defense, but not Bill O’Brien’s offense.