HEADLINES

Fallout From Antonio Brown Trade

March 10th, 2019 at 8:57am CST by Rory Parks

Now that the Raiders have agreed to acquire Antonio Brown from the Steelers, you can be sure that more news about the deal (and the deals that were discussed, but never came to be), will be trickling in. We will monitor the AB fallout here throughout the course of the day, as the football world continues to process the conclusion of the biggest storyline of the offseason:

  • The Eagles did discuss Brown with the Steelers, but as ESPN’s Adam Schefter tweets, those talks never got serious. Instead, Philadelphia and Pittsburgh were simply doing their due diligence.
  • Eliot Shorr-Parks of 94WIP.com suggests it was the new contract that Brown was demanding, rather than the draft picks, that scared the Eagles away (Twitter link).
  • Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (via Twitter) agrees with Shorr-Parks’ theory, saying that plenty of teams were willing to give up the third- and fifth-round picks that ultimately got the job done, but the Raiders were the only team that was willing to tear up Brown’s existing contract and give him a new one.
  • Jason La Canfora of CBS Sports tweets that the Bills were willing to swap 2019 first-round picks with the Steelers (No. 9 for No. 20) and trade away two mid-round picks, but it was Brown’s contract demands that proved to be the undoing of that potential deal.
  • La Canfora adds in a separate tweet that the Redskins were still engaged with the Steelers after the Bills deal fell through earlier in the week, but it is unclear how serious the Pittsburgh-Washington talks became.
  • Jeremy Fowler of ESPN.com concedes that the Raiders easily got the better of the Steelers in this trade, but he reviews what Pittsburgh’s options were, and none of them were good (Twitter link). The Steelers could have cut Brown and received no trade compensation — which also would have allowed Brown to sign with any team he wanted, including a major conference rival — or they could have kept him, fined him when he didn’t report to camp, and hoped that he wouldn’t retire because he would have had to pay back $11MM if he did so.
  • Fowler also passes along a couple of Raiders-related notes in a separate tweet. A source close to Brown said the wideout was excited about joining the Raiders in part because of the presence of head coach Jon Gruden and quarterback Derek Carr. Brown is also intrigued by the Raiders’ collection of high draft picks and young talent, and Raiders defensive coordinator Paul Guenther — who had to devise many a game plan for Brown when he was the Bengals’ DC — strongly endorsed Brown’s game.
  • Plenty of people have been wondering why the Steelers didn’t demand one of the Raiders‘ three first-round draft picks before agreeing to deal Brown to Oakland, and NFL Insider Adam Caplan says the Raiders simply refused to do so (Twitter link). Although the Raiders would of course have preferred to give up one draft choice instead of two, the club was adamant about holding onto its three first-rounders and one second-rounder.
  • Although the Steelers‘ $21.12MM cap hit that they will have to absorb for Brown in 2019 is a killer, the trade does save the club $15MM in cash that can now be spent on other players, as Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk observes.
  • Brown’s contract with the Raiders has set a new benchmark for players like Julio Jones, Tyreek Hill, and Michael Thomas, who will all cash in shortly.
  • Bill Barnwell of ESPN.com takes an excellent in-depth look at the saga and what it means for both teams.

NFL Trade Rumors: Buffalo BillsLas Vegas RaidersPhiladelphia EaglesPittsburgh SteelersWashington CommandersAntonio Brown

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