
About that Antonio Brown to the Buffalo Bills trade …
Late Thursday night, NFL Media’s Ian Rapoport said the Pittsburgh Steelers were closing in on a trade of Brown to the Buffalo Bills. He punctuated his report by saying “there it is,” as if it was a done deal and happening.
Almost immediately, Brown called “fake news” on the trade report via Instagram. Then two Bills reporters said nothing was happening.
An NFL source says #Bills have inquired about Antonio Brown with the #Steelers, but no deal is imminent. In fact, another league source termed it "unlikely."
— Vic Carucci (@viccarucci) March 8, 2019
Moving the chances of #Bills acquiring Antonio Brown to the less than likely bin.
And can firmly report that nothing is considered "imminent."Told Buffalo did contact Steelers regarding Brown as part of doing their due diligence.
How far it got beyond that is uncertain.— John Wawrow (@john_wawrow) March 8, 2019
All along, ESPN did not report about the trade, indicating they weren’t sure about it. Then Adam Schefter finally weighed in, saying he was told the deal is “unlikely.”
Buffalo has spoken to Pittsburgh about a potential trade for WR Antonio Brown, as have a handful of other teams. Those talks occurred only in recent days. A source this morning called a Brown-to-Buffalo trade “unlikely.” Not out of the question but, at this time, “unlikely.”
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) March 8, 2019
Another source on a potential Antonio Brown-to-Buffalo trade said it will not happen. “I don't think the Bills trade was ever close to happening,” said one source involved in those talks. Steelers snd Bills briefly talked but “this is an old story. It was dead on Wednesday.”
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) March 8, 2019
As talks continue on a potential Antonio Brown trade, and the situation continues to be fluid, “nothing is close” at this time, per a source. The Brown saga goes on. The Steelers has told teams that they expected, and wanted, this in place by Friday. That now looks challenging.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) March 8, 2019
Pro Football Talk’s Mike Florio also was told Rapoport’s report was “erroneous.”
Just got a couple texts on the report (apparently) of Antonio Brown done-deal trade to Buffalo. Source calls report “erroneous” and says a deal to the Bills is “not even close.”
— ProFootballTalk (@ProFootballTalk) March 8, 2019
We began covering the heck out of the story, including all the funny reactions to the deal. If the trade does not go down, the real shame will be that so many people missed out on all the fun the internet got to have for a few hours when it looked like Brown was being shipped to Buffalo.