INDIANAPOLIS -- Between his two seasons playing for the Giants in the early 1980s and nearly two decades as a college football and NFL draft analyst, Mike Mayock built quite a relationship with Bill Belichick.
In his role over the last 15 years with NFL Network Mayock has spent time in New England during training camp practices and benefited from Belichick stopping by the booth during his Combine week broadcasts in Indy.
Now, though, as the first-year general manager of the Oakland Raiders, Mayock understands things might be a little different.
"I was fortunate enough to play for coach Belichick for a couple of years and he's been great to me over the years," Mayock said after a laugh during his Wednesday morning press conference at the 2019 Combine. "I'm guessing that at this point, as good a relationship as we have, there probably won't be quite the free exchange of information as in the past."
The Raiders are in a pretty unique and powerful position in this year's draft, holding a trio of first-round picks that could allow Oakland to move all around the board to restock its roster under Jon Gruden's leadership.
New England also has plenty of draft capital in its own right, owning 12 picks overall and six in the first 101 selections.
While that could theoretically make the two teams potential trading partners on draft weekend, it doesn't seem Mayock expects to lean on his long relationship with Belichick too much now that he's made the jump from media to competitor.
