Getty Pittsburgh Steelers WR Antonio Brown
The situation involving a potential trade of Pittsburgh Steelers star Antonio Brown looks poised to be wrapped up sooner than later. But for the time being, the rumors and chatter around his next team will only continue to ramp up. The most recent talks involving Brown point to the trade market having been narrowed down in a drastic way.
It was previously rumored to be roughly three teams or so who were really in the mix for the Steelers star, but two of those may have been priced out. According to ESPN’s Josina Anderson, a source stated that it’s down to a “one team race” for Brown.
Interesting take on Antonio Brown market from a league source, as of early this morning (in their opinion): “one team race…I think the other teams decided the price was too high.”
Assuming this proves to remain true moving forward, it’ll be interesting to monitor which one team it could be, but an immediate guess has to be the Oakland Raiders. They’ve been in the conversation from the start, and we know Jon Gruden has little issue with making noise.
Oakland Raiders Potential Top Fit
With three first-round picks in the 2019 NFL Draft along with the No. 35 pick which falls at the start of the second round, the Raiders have the draft capital to make this happen. Beyond that, they have a major need at wide receiver after the decision was made last year to trade Amari Cooper to the Dallas Cowboys.
The asking price from the Steelers for their star wideout is a big topic, but whatever it is, a number of teams have apparently opted to drop out of the race. As NFL Update cited, NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport revealed that the New York Jets, Arizona Cardinals, Denver Broncos, and Philadelphia Eagles have all dropped out.
For what it’s worth, just because the Raiders have draft capital, shouldn’t impact their outlook or plan for this situation. Whether or not Gruden and new general manager Mike Mayock have that same thinking is the big question. Overpaying for Brown seems like a questionable move at best, especially considering the return on a deal isn’t expected to be quite as lofty as originally believed.
Antonio Brown Trade Expected in Coming Days
For the fans holding out hope to see their team land Brown, it seems we could have an end result in the very near future. ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported on Wednesday that the Steelers informed teams a deal is expected to happen by Friday.
Teams that have spoken to the Steelers about a potential Antonio Brown trade have been told that a deal is expected to be in place by Friday, per league sources.
At this point, both the team and player are surely ready to move on and get back to business beyond these trade talks. At this moment, Brown’s future team still remains the primary question but based on the teams who are dropping out, we at least have an idea of how the field is shaping up.
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