After weeks of wondering whether or not the Pittsburgh Steelers will finally agree to trade Antonio Brown. Initially Brown was heading to the Buffalo Bills on Friday but that trade fell through. That led to many thinking Brown may not leave Pittsburgh after all, but eventually, a trade partner was found. Antonio Brown was dealt to the Oakland Raiders, early Sunday morning, in exchange for a third-round and fifth-round draft pick.
Jason LaConfora, an NFL Insider for CBS, says the two draft picks the Steelers are receiving are in this year's draft.
The third-round pick is the 66th overall and the fifth-round pick is the 142nd overall. Furthermore, Brown's guaranteed money shot up to $30.125 million over the next three years according to LaConfora. With incentives, Antonio Brown can make upwards of $54 million. The trade can't become official until Wednesday when the NFL's new league year begins.
The agent of Antonio Brown says Oakland will be a 'great fit'
Adam Schefter of ESPN reported that Antonio Brown took the Steelers four-year extension, at $17 million, and converted into $19.8 million. His agent, Drew Rosenhaus was on Sportscenter this morning and said that the Raiders are a "great fit" for his client. In the interview with ESPN, this morning Rosenhaus commented on the trade and what went wrong between Brown and the Steelers.
"Jon Gruden is a future Hall of Fame coach and the Raiders have a franchise quarterback in Derek Carr. The Raiders have great tradition and great fans and are moving to Vegas," Rosenhaus said. Brown was looking for a fresh start and will have that opportunity with one of the most popular and marquee franchises in sports.
In terms of what went wrong between Brown and the Steelers, one has to go back to week 17 of the season.
Antonio Brown skipped a practice, was late to meetings, and hence was held out of the week 17 game between the Bengals and the Steelers. After that Antonio Brown and the management team of the Steelers had heated disputes about Brown's future with the team. Owner Art Rooney was even quoted as saying that "Antonio Brown will not be apart of his team going into next season." But because Brown was due a $2.5 million roster bonus March 17th, the Steelers had to trade him before then.
The Steelers have to absorb $21 million in dead money against their cap, the largest amount ever in NFL history.
Brown's agent said similar things, this morning on Sportscenter when asked what went wrong. He said, "Well obviously things fell apart at the end of the season. Brown wanted to play in the last game but it didn't work out that way, a lot of things were said and in the end, both sides wanted a divorce." The trade is the first official trade for the Raiders new general manager Mike Mayock.
Steelers don't get what they want by trading Antonio Brown
When the trade talk started, the Steelers were asking for at least one first-round pick and possibly another. But by dealing Brown for third-round and fifth-round picks, it was clear this was the best offer they were going to get.
The Raiders, however, were very smart by not giving the Steelers what they were asking for. The Oakland Raiders have three first-round picks in this years NFL draft as well as a second-pick, so that's four picks in the first two rounds.
With that kind of draft capital, Jon Gruden and Mike Mayock can do pretty much anything they want, including trading one of the first-round picks. Also, Antonio Brown's antics showed that while he may be worth a first-round pick to one team, another team thinks differently. So the Raiders got Brown for what they thought he was valued at instead of overpaying for him. Essentially the Raiders got the best wide receiver in football for potentially a future starter or primary back up player and a player that may never even make an NFL team, not bad if you ask me.
Raiders can build for the future with upcoming free agency
So with the Raiders getting Antonio Brown, now Gruden and Mayock can turn to free agency ahead of this year's draft. It has been rumored that the Raiders will be active in acquiring players to help Derek Carr and the Raiders get back to being a contending playoff and super bowl team. One rumor is the Raiders pursuing former Steelers running back Le'veon Bell. This would pose an interesting dynamic for the Raiders as they would have arguably the best receiver and the best running back paired together. Derek Carr would definitely be better for it, but they would have to give Carr more weapons than just those two. If the genius of Jon Gruden could find a way to get Le'veon Bell the Raiders offense will be much better than the 18th overall it was last year.