Antonio Brown taught the Steelers and everyone else a lesson on Thursday night. The Steelers may control his rights, but “Mr. Big Chest” isn’t being traded anywhere he doesn’t want to play.
The Steelers tried to send Brown to football purgatory in Buffalo, but because of the cost and risk associated with Brown, no one is trading for the disgruntled wide receiver without his blessing. In fact, several reports have indicated that Brown would have been traded last night had he not scared away the Bills after hearing the news.
No player in recent memory has enjoyed this much power. Some of the power comes with his high price tag, but it’s Brown’s personality that offers the final trump card. Anyone would welcome a happy Antonio Brown, but there are exactly 32 teams who want no parts of an unhappy Antonio Brown. Maybe that’s why former player Akbar Gbajabiamila was so confident on Thursday afternoon that Brown will ultimately end up with the Raiders.
According to theMMQB’s Albert Breer, there are “very few options left” for the Steelers, meaning the Raiders third-round pick might be the Steelers only real option. We know Brown has respect for Derek Carr and there’s reason to believe Brown would be happy playing for the Raiders.
And here is another interesting angle to the situation. If the Raiders end up trading for Brown, which seems inevitable, they may have to commit to keeping Carr… because who’s to say “Mr. Big Chest” would be happy showing up in Oakland to close out his career with a quarterback he didn’t sign up for?
Then again, if the Raiders give up only a third-round pick for Brown, they’d probably be more comfortable cutting bait in the next year or two if things didn’t work out.
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I hope we get AB and with the 4th pick take DK. Teams will be hard pressed to cover two WR’s like them. #RaiderNation