The NFL Draft happened last week while I was mostly paying attention to other stuff. In spite of this, Alicia Keys is still singing the chorus of “Empire State of Mind” in my brain. I wish I had a dime for every time ESPN played that chorus during the draft. Alicia probably does, too.

Lost among the hype of Sam Bradford getting picked first, Ndamukong Suh giving a huge chunk of change back to the University of Nebraska and the Denver Broncos getting all mile high and drafting Tim Tebow in the first round — which is more reasonable than the actual explanation — was a late-round trade the Pittsburgh Steelers made with the Arizona Cardinals. The Steelers sent a 5th-round pick to Arizona in exchange for former Steeler cornerback Bryant McFadden and a 6th-round pick, which became Central Michigan receiver Antonio Brown.

Why is this trade notable? That was the 5th-round pick the Steelers got from the New York Jets in exchange for Santonio Holmes.

When put in that context, the trade doesn’t sound quite so ridiculous now, does it? It’s one thing to say the Steelers traded Holmes for a 5th round pick. It’s quite another to say the Steelers traded Holmes for a cornerback who has worked pretty well in Dick LeBeau’s defense in the past — and that defense did need help in the secondary —  and a young speedster who could potentially become the kick return specialist the Steelers need. Oh, by the way, those two could both play a full 16-game schedule in 2010, which Holmes cannot.

Of course, you could argue that the Steelers didn’t need a kick return specialist with Antwaan Randle El coming back to town, but his discussions with the Steelers focused on him being the No. 3 receiver. This sounded a lot crazier back in March when Holmes was still a Steeler, because Mike Wallace was impressive enough as a rookie to be at least 3rd on the depth chart. Perhaps the front office knew about Holmes’ pending drug suspension long before the rest of us did.

Either way, keep an eye on McFadden and Brown this season — and Wallace. How those three perform will tell you just how much value the Steelers got in exchange for Holmes.