PITTSBURGH - Maybe a few more minutes of negotiations on a frenzied, deadline-filled afternoon would have done it. Maybe an extra draft pick would have swung the deal, perhaps changing the makeup of the Jets and Steelers for years to come.

Chad Pennington realizes how close he came to joining the Steelers rather than the Jets in 2000, though the quarterback hasn't allowed himself to consider how his life might have changed if he had.

Pennington leads the Jets into Saturday's divisional playoff game against the Steelers, but it's easy to imagine how it could've been the other way around.

Just before the April 2000 draft, it seemed likely the Steelers were ready to push slumping quarterback Kordell Stewart by choosing Pennington No. 8 overall. The Marshall quarterback met several times at length with the Steelers, including a well-received personal visit to Pittsburgh.

"I thought the chances were pretty good the Steelers were going to draft me," said Pennington, who missed practice Wednesday because of the flu and might not be ready to go today, but is expected to play Saturday.

Even when the Steelers chose Michigan State wide receiver Plaxico Burress, they were so enamored with Pennington they made a strong push to acquire him with the Jets' No. 18 pick.

They offered New York coach Bill Parcells their second-, third- and fourth-round picks to move up and take Pennington - an unprecedented offer by a conservative franchise that prefers to build via the draft rather than free agency.

"I knew they definitely had interest from the (NFL) combine, my personal workout and my visit," Pennington said. "That is the beauty of the draft and how things go.

"Things don't go as prognosticators say they do. Sometimes a team has to make a decision on which way they have to go and what is best for them as an organization. Obviously, the Steelers did the right thing."

The Steelers might have backed off taking Pennington No. 8 because they were only two years removed from giving Stewart an $8 million signing bonus. Having two high-salaried quarterbacks would have forced several roster moves to get them under the salary cap.

Pennington probably would have cost less as the No. 18 pick, but Steelers director of football operations Kevin Colbert denied published reports Burress was offered in a trade that also would have included New York's No. 12 pick, defensive end Shaun Ellis.

If they had gotten Pennington, the Steelers might not have signed Arena League quarterback Tommy Maddox, who succeeded Stewart in 2002 and became the NFL Comeback Player of the Year.

And, if Pennington was running their offense, they almost certainly wouldn't have drafted rookie Ben Roethlisberger, 13-0 in leading the Steelers (15-1) to the best regular-season record in franchise history.

Pennington hasn't expressed disappointment the Steelers choose Burress over him. Steelers coach Bill Cowher also won't second-guess the move, although Burress can become a free agent after this season.

"I don't think it serves any purpose to go back there," Cowher said.

"It's not a situation where they picked one quarterback over another quarterback," Pennington said. "It was addressing certain needs on the team. They felt like one of their needs was to be able to bring in a big-time receiver, and they were able to do that."