Bill Belichick has admitted that the New England Patriots came close to drafting Isaac Sopoaga in 2004.
The nose tackle was picked in the fourth round by the San Francisco 49ers, leaving as a free agent to join the Philadelphia Eagles this off-season, before being traded to the AFC East side earlier this week.
The head coach told reporters: "Absolutely, yeah, absolutely. We talked about taking him and we were going to take him and we were just a round late. But we'd already taken Vince [Wilfork] obviously. But you can never have too many defensive linemen.
"That was kind of the conversation. He was right there, we were ready to take him. We said, 'Well, you know, we can get him one round earlier'. We'd already taken a couple guys and we probably waited a little bit too long on that one.
"I'd say he's had a real good career. To be a fourth-round pick that's done what he's done, I'd say not too many of them have done that, right? So, I think it's been pretty good."
Sopoaga has made 226 tackles, 7.5 sacks and a forced fumble during his 10-season career.
