It was a crazy few weeks that ultimately led to the Raiders trading for Antonio Brown. Information and misinformation was everywhere and differentiating between the two was challenging, if not impossible.
What news was coming from the Steelers?
What information was true and what wasn’t?
Thankfully, though, Brown seems to have recorded a conversation with his agent, Drew Rosenhaus, and it offers a peek behind the scenes in terms of where Brown really wanted to play and which teams he and the Steelers were considering working with at the time.
Full audio below for anyone who can’t listen on iTunes.
"I wouldn't rule Oakland out." #Raiders pic.twitter.com/8UGlOSKayu
— Raider Posts (@RaiderPosts) March 26, 2019
Based on their conversation, there’s no question Brown was very interested in the Raiders. Even when trade talks weren’t progressing between the Steelers and Raiders, it sounds like Oakland was the first team Brown brought up to his agent. It also sounds like Brown wasn’t concerned only with the money. He wanted to be the league’s highest paid receiver, but he was willing to take less to play in certain cities.
To that point, there was never any chance AB was joining the Bills. Obviously, this is why Brown knew the report of a trade to Buffalo was, in fact, fake news. Among the other teams Brown didn’t want to play for – the Redskins. It sounds like the Steelers were actually willing to trade Brown to the Patriots and were simply looking for the best compensation.
As far as the Raiders were concerned, it sounds like the Raiders were falling out of the trade discussion at the time of Brown’s conversation with his agent, which lines up very well with general manager Mike Mayock’s story of how AB ended up falling into the Raiders’ lap.
twitter: @raidersbeat
