Martavis Bryant has publicly stated that he wants the Pittsburgh Steelers to trade him, and the team has maintained that it is not happening. That stance did not change at the NFL trade deadline on Tuesday.
Ian Rapoport of NFL Network reports that the Steelers received calls from teams who were interested in Bryant, but they informed them they were not dealing the 25-year-old receiver.
#Steelers WR Martavis Bryant is expected to report for practice Wednesday & PIT is not trading him, I’m told. Teams called, they said no
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) October 31, 2017
That meshes with a report from ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler, who was told on Tuesday that Mike Tomlin told Bryant he will be part of the game plan when the Steelers take on the Indianapolis Colts in Week 10 after the bye.
Bryant was benched for Sunday’s game against the Detroit Lions after he criticized rookie wide receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster in an Instagram comment. He also openly admitted that he wants out of Pittsburgh if he isn’t going to get the ball more going forward.
Smith-Schuster caught seven passes for 193 yards — both career highs — and a touchdown in Sunday’s win over the Lions. He has earned a bigger role in the offense, and the Steelers aren’t going to just ignore him going forward. However, they must feel that Bryant is valuable enough to the team that they are not going to trade him when his value is at rock bottom.
