Broderick Jones Draft Trade Named Best Steelers Offseason Move

It’s not clear when Broderick Jones, the Pittsburgh Steelers’ first-round pick in the 2023 NFL Draft will first start games for the club, but the move that Omar Khan made to get him is already being praised.

CBS Sports analyst Cody Benjamin called the move the Steelers made at the draft to trade a fourth-round pick to the New England Patriots to get from No. 16 overall to No. 14 overall, leapfrog the New York Jets and land Jones the best move of the Steelers’ offseason.

“Drafting OT Broderick Jones after moving up to No. 14 in the first round means they’re rightly committed to shoring up the front for young QB Kenny Pickett,” Benjamin wrote in his breakdown of the top offseason move for each of the 16 AFC teams. “After plugging the interior with former Eagles vet Isaac Seumalo, they have a supremely athletic tackle to mold while leaning on Mike Tomlin’s always-feisty defense.”

Jones has been working as the second-team left tackle behind incumbent starter Dan Moore Jr. throughout minicamp and OTAs. The Steelers don’t appear to be in a big hurry to get their first-round pick into the starting lineup. Jones took just a handful of reps with the starters throughout the spring, but offensive line coach Pat Meyer acknowledged that day is coming eventually when he will surpass Moore and take hold of the starting job.

“If you draft a guy in the first round, you’re not drafting a guy to sit him,” Meyer said this week during the team’s mandatory minicamp. “It’s the nature of the business. When he’s ready to play and we think he’s ready to play, the kid is going to play.”