Antonio Brown has been traded for real this time, and it’s to the Oakland Raiders.
Brown posted photos on social media Saturday night hinting at him becoming a Raider.
#RaiderNation pic.twitter.com/ul6lIVk9dE
— Antonio Brown (@AB84) March 10, 2019
According to NFL Media’s Ian Rapoport, the Raiders are trading a 3rd and 5th-round pick in this year’s draft to Pittsburgh for Brown.
The Antonio Brown saga is finally nearing a close. Sources say the #Steelers are dealing AB to the #Raiders in exchange for a third round pick and a fifth round pick in this 2019 draft. Brown will also get a reworked contract that makes him the NFL’s highest paid WR.
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) March 10, 2019
Pro Football Talk’s Mike Florio provided information regarding the financials. He says Brown will have $30 million guaranteed over the next three seasons, and his money goes from $39 million to $50 million.
Per source, Antonio Brown's guaranteed money has gone from $0 over the next three years to $30.125M fully guaranteed.
— ProFootballTalk (@ProFootballTalk) March 10, 2019
Per source, Antonio Brown's three-year haul will increase from $38.925 million to $50.125 million, per source. No new years will be added.
— ProFootballTalk (@ProFootballTalk) March 10, 2019
The trade ends months of rumors and reports about Brown’s future. The wide receiver had a blowup with the Steelers over the final week of the regular season and ended up benched for the finale. He then forced his way out, putting the blame on others for the way things ended up. The saga took a funny turn when a report said Brown was getting traded to the Bills. That didn’t happen, and Brown had been hinting over the last day that he was likely headed to Oakland.
The logic of the Raiders seems questionable. They had Amari Cooper, who is a younger wide receiver, and a dynamic defensive star in Khalil Mack, whom they refused to pay. They ended up trading both and getting first-round picks in return. And instead, they chose to give big money to Brown, who is clearly a headcase. Mack seemed like a better investment of funds than Brown.
