HEADLINES

Antonio Brown

Steelers Rumors: Brown, Bell, Ravens

February 22nd, 2019 at 3:55pm CST by Zachary Links

The Steelers are willing to explore Antonio Brown trade scenarios, but Gerry Dulac of the Post-Gazette senses that they would like to control where he winds up. He believes they would not want to trade him to divisional rivals (Ravens, Bengals, Browns), nor would they want to send him to the Patriots.

It’s not immediately clear whether Dulac has heard this first hand from the Steelers’ front office, but that certainly seems like a logical position for the Steelers to take.

Here’s more from Pittsburgh:

  • Le’Veon Bell passed on $14.544MM in 2018, and he’ll have a lot of trouble recouping that loss in free agency, Joel Corry of CBSSports.com opines. Bell, he notes, would have to sign a deal giving him $33MM in total compensation in Year 1 in order to effectively replace the money he lost out on by rejecting the Steelers’ offer. For reference, Todd Gurley‘s recent extension will pay him $28.5MM in his first new year (2020), and Gurley is younger. Bell is also said to be seeking $50MM through the first two years, which may be unattainable given that Gurley is set to make $37MM in that span. Currently, Khalil Mack and Aaron Donald are the only two non-quarterbacks with a two-year cash flow of $50MM or more.
  • The Jets are the most likely destination for Bell, in the opinion of Darryl Slater of NJ.com. Armed with $100MM+ in cap space and an obvious need for Bell, the Jets make a ton of sense. The Jets are not necessarily in a position to win right away, but Bell would probably have to accept less money to join a contender such as the Packers. The Eagles, Buccaneers, and Raiders also made Slater’s top five.
  • On Friday, Steelers GM Kevin Colbert told reporters that three teams have inquired on Brown.

Three Teams Inquired On Antonio Brown

February 22nd, 2019 at 12:46pm CST by Zachary Links

Three teams have inquired on trading for Antonio Brown, Steelers GM Kevin Colbert told NFL Network (via Yahoo Sports). Still, he does not expect a trade to come together right away. 

Stressing that the process will take time, Colbert indicated that things could pick up over the next week or so as teams gauge the free agent wide receiver market, make their “own free agency evaluations,” and watch prospects at the combine.

Still, the Steelers don’t have all the time in the world. Brown is due a $2.5MM roster bonus on March 17 and it would make little sense for them to pay that bonus and then trade him. A deal could take time, but, realistically, the Steelers have less than a month to get something done.

Some NFL executives believe the Steelers won’t get more than a third-round pick for one of the game’s most dynamic talents. Naturally, the Steelers want more.

“By no means are we going to make a trade or any type of move that will not be beneficial to Pittsburgh Steelers organization,” Colbert said recently.

Between Brown’s shots at the Steelers on social media and his other off-the-field issues, it will be interesting to see how much leverage the Steelers have in trade talks. Any team in the NFL would probably like to have Brown, but clubs also know that his relationship with the club appears to be irreparably damaged.

Brown, 31 in July, earned his sixth consecutive Pro Bowl selection in 2018, finishing with 104 catches, 1,297 yards and a league-leading and career-high 15 touchdown receptions.

AFC Notes: Jets, Steelers, Ravens, Broncos

February 20th, 2019 at 8:54pm CST by Dallas Robinson

The Jets have “massive buyer’s remorse” after signing cornerback Trumaine Johnson a five-year, $72.5MM deal last offseason, according to Manish Mehta of the New York Daily News. Johnson, who had been franchise-tagged by the Rams in both 2016 and 2017, is now the NFL’s second-highest paid corner behind only Josh Norman. While he may not have played like a No. 1 CB last season, Johnson’s numbers were much improved from 2017. After ranking as Pro Football Focus‘ No. 60 corner in 2017, Johnson finished 24th in PFF’s grades last year. Football Outsiders, meanwhile, ranked Johnson as a bottom-10 corner in success rate in 2017, but 30th in 2018. Gang Green can’t realistically exit the Johnson contract until after the 2019 campaign.

Here’s more from around the AFC:

  • The Steelers appear set to explore the trade market for wide receiver Antonio Brown, but the return for the superstar may not be as lucrative as Pittsburgh hopes. Tom Pelissero of NFL.com (video link) surveyed multiple NFL executives and reached the conclusion that the Steelers are likely to receive something in the neighborhood of a third-round pick in exchange for Brown. While he’s still among the NFL’s best pass-catchers, Brown is heading into his age-31 season and will be due north of $15MM in 2019. Additionally, it’s fair to wonder if some rival clubs are skeptical of Brown given his recent off-field antics. Earlier today, Steelers general manager Kevin Colbert made it clear that he won’t simply give Brown away.
  • Speaking of embattled Steelers, kicker Chris Boswell is likely to face competition in training camp following a down 2018 campaign, as Colbert indicated to Ed Bouchette of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (Twitter link). Boswell only converted 65% of his field goal attempts last season, a percentage that ranked him 30th among kickers. He’s due a $2MM roster bonus on March 15, and the Steelers are presumably willing to pay that total given that Colbert says Boswell will be at training camp.
  • Cornerback Jimmy Smith could be a potential cap casualty as the Ravens move forward this offseason, per Jeff Zrebiec of The Athletic. Smith is scheduled to count for nearly $16MM on Baltimore’s salary cap in 2019 (the highest figure on the club and second-highest among NFL corners), is now 30 years old, and has missed 13 games over the past three season due to injuries and a suspension. The Ravens have plenty of cornerback depth to withstand the loss of Smith (Brandon Carr, Marlon Humphrey, Tavon Young), but he’s still playing at a high level.
  • The Broncos have begun negotiations with offensive lineman Billy Turner, and he may be the sole member of Denver’s unrestricted free agent class that will reach an agreement before the start of the new league year, writes Mike Klis of 9News. A former third-round pick of the Dolphins, Turner signed for $2MM last offseason and should receive a salary bump this year. He played 76% of the Broncos’ offensive snaps a year ago, and could return either as a starter or a valuable reserve in 2019.

Latest On Steelers, Antonio Brown

February 20th, 2019 at 12:19pm CST by Zachary Links

Antonio Brown is on the trade block, but the Steelers won’t just give him away. When speaking with reporters on Wednesday, GM Kevin Colbert made it known that the Steelers will only consider offers with significant draft capital in return. 

“By no means are we going to make a trade or any type of move that will not be beneficial to Pittsburgh Steelers organization,” Colbert said (Twitter link via Jeremy Fowler of ESPN.com).

That same message has also been relayed directly to Brown and his camp, Aditi Kinkhabwala of NFL.com tweets. Brown, she hears, has been advised to stop airing his grievances in public and to stop hurting his trade value. Ultimately, if the Steelers cannot trade Brown, they say they’ll keep him under contract and aim to mend fences.

“We will not be discounting you on the trade market and we certainly will not be releasing you,” Colbert said of his message to Brown. “All of that being said, we will take a positive approach and if someone has a sincere interest and want to make a move – either a significant pick, set of picks, significant player, and picks, and we think it will benefit the Pittsburgh Steelers in the long run, then we are all in. If not, then we will make that decision at that point.”

Steelers Agree To Trade Antonio Brown?

February 19th, 2019 at 10:35am CST by Zachary Links

Antonio Brown‘s meeting with Art Rooney may lead to a divorce between the two sides. At the meeting, which was later joined by agent Drew Rosenhaus, GM Kevin Colbert, and executive Omar Kahn, everyone agreed the trade will be for the best,” a source tells Adam Schefter of ESPN.com (on Twitter). 

With that, the Steelers have more or less promised to find Brown a suitable trade. However, Brown has not been given the OK to speak to other teams, Mike Florio of PFT hears.

No trade can become official until March 13, but the Steelers can work out a tentative deal with another team between now and then. For example, the Ravens and Broncos shook hands on the Joe Flacco trade last week, though that trade will not be official for a few more weeks.

If Pittsburgh deals Brown before March 17, it would saddle the franchise with just more than $21MM in dead money. That number rises to $23.2MM after St. Patrick’s Day, because of a $2.5MM bonus due that day. A trade after June 1 would allow the team to avoid absorbing that cap hit all at once. No trade can be finalized until March 13, when the new league year opens.

Despite friction with key Steelers figures and being overshadowed by JuJu Smith-Schuster at times last year, Brown earned his sixth consecutive Pro Bowl selection as he caught 104 catches, 1,297 yards and a league-leading and career-high 15 touchdowns. The future Hall of Famer has been consistently dominant since the 2013 season and remarkably healthy in that span, too.

Even though he may have some red flags, Brown is unquestionably the hottest player on the trade block at this time. Of course, Odell Beckham Jr. could give him a run for his money in that regard if the Giants truly decide to shop him.

Brown has scared off at least one interested team with his tweets and he still may have to answer for a January domestic dispute. We’ll soon find out how badly those red flags will impact Brown’s market.

Peter King On Brown, Clowney, Murray

February 18th, 2019 at 10:23am CST by Zachary Links

Antonio Brown has scared off at least one interested team with his tweets, Peter King of NBC Sports hears. The Steelers star hasn’t been shy about airing his dirty laundry over social media and King suspects that other potential suitors are also viewing his outspokenness as a red flag.

Brown’s latest Twitter outburst included shots at coach Mike Tomlin and quarterback Ben Roethlisberger, which jibes with reports of serious friction between Brown and key team figures in recent months.

“No conflict just a matter of respect! Mutual respect!” Brown said, on Twitter. “He has a owner mentality like he can call out anybody including coaches. Players know but they can’t say anything about it otherwise they meal ticket gone. It’s a dirty game within a game. #truth.”

Over the past 40-plus days, Brown has requested a trade and been involved in a domestic dispute. Meanwhile, he’s denied any wrongdoing in connection with the incident.

Here’s more from King’s column:

  • King is skeptical of the Texans reaching a long-term deal with Jadeveon Clowney this offseason because he’s “not as hard of worker bee some others on that defense are.” However, that could change if Clowney receives the franchise tag and proves himself in 2019. Clowney recently earned a payment of $1.005MM to resolve a dispute over the position designation for his fifth-year option, so he’d earn roughly $17.3MM under the terms of the tag.
  • The Raiders have three first-round picks and there has been speculation that they could target a quarterback early in the draft, despite the presence Derek Carr. The Raiders, King hears, are fascinated with Murray. If that’s the case, he wonders whether Oakland might flip Carr to to the Jaguars, Dolphins, or Redskins and select the Oklahoma star. If that happens, Murray could wind up playing his first home games on the field of the Oakland A’s.

Latest On Antonio Brown, Steelers

February 16th, 2019 at 5:58pm CST by Micah Powell

We learned yesterday that Steelers owner Art Rooney II and All-Pro receiver Antonio Brown will sit down to clear the air in Florida. We now know that meeting is expected to happen next week, ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler writes. 

Brown hasn’t been shy about his desire to be traded this offseason, and just recently the star wideout took to Twitter to answer questions about his relationship with the team, coach Mike Tomlin and quarterback Ben Roethlisberger. It marks the latest in a long line of headline-grabbing actions from the receiver in 2019, who in addition to requesting a trade, was also involved in a domestic dispute in January.

Should the Steelers emerge from the meeting with Brown determined to trade him, they will unsurprisingly look to move him to an NFC team first, Ed Bouchette of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette writes. It has been reported that Brown desires to play in San Francisco, while teams like the Cardinals, Jets and Raiders have emerged as teams expected to be in the running for his services. It is unlikely that a team would trade a first-round pick for the veteran receiver, who is owed $36.5MM over the next three season, but a team could be willing to part with a second- or third-round selection. Bouchette notes that trade talks are expected to commence at the NFL Combine, which begins in less than two weeks.

Despite the tumultuous end to the season and beginning of the offseason, Brown is undoubtedly still at the top of his game. The 30-year-old widoeut earned his sixth consecutive Pro Bowl selection in 2018, finishing with 104 catches, 1,297 yards and a league-leading and career-high 15 touchdown receptions.

Antonio Brown Discusses Mike Tomlin, Ben Roethlisberger, Contract

February 16th, 2019 at 2:43pm CST by Sam Robinson

After it was revealed Antonio Brown would meet with Steelers owner Art Rooney II, the mercurial superstar took several shots at the organization on Saturday in attempting to explain the reasoning for wanting to be traded.

Answering a few questions from Twitter users, Brown addressed his issue with Mike Tomlin. Their relationship sustained a significant setback in Week 17, when a Brown practice dust-up led to a season-finale deactivation. They are not believed to have spoken since.

“After the coach tell the team I quit while nursing some bumps then invite me to watch the show with same guys thinking I quit i can not stand with that!” Brown said, on Twitter (sic). “I’m the bad guy doe we miss post season think about it.”

Prior to reports coming out about the events that led to Brown’s current situation, he appeared on the Steelers’ injury report. During his postseason news conference last month, Tomlin addressed whether or not he believed Brown did quit on his team.

“The bottom line is we were playing a significant game and he didn’t do a good enough job of communicating or being available in the hours leading up to that performance,” Tomlin said in January. “Obviously, there are some things within that you can infer.”

Over the past 40-plus days, Brown has requested a trade and been involved in a domestic dispute. He’s denied any wrongdoing in connection with the incident.

The 31-year-old wide receiver then replied to a question about again wanting a new contract (Twitter link). Brown’s four-year, $68MM deal — the second-highest AAV among receivers — has three seasons remaining. Seeking another new deal, along with the off-field incident, would stand to further limit his market.

Brown’s Saturday salvos also included one at Ben Roethlisberger, even though the receiver said there is not a current conflict between he and his longtime quarterback. Roethlisberger criticized Brown during an in-season radio interview, and although Brown denied in the moment he was miffed about it, he voiced frustration about it now.

“No conflict just a matter of respect! Mutual respect!” Brown said, on Twitter. “He has a owner mentality like he can call out anybody including coaches. Players know but they can’t say anything about it otherwise they meal ticket gone. It’s a dirty game within a game. #truth.”

Brown did also confirm he does plan to meet with Rooney (Twitter link). As has been the case throughout the offseason, much more will surely come from this ongoing saga.

AFC Notes: Brown, Brady, Bills, Jets

February 15th, 2019 at 8:34pm CST by Andrew Ortenberg

The Antonio Brown saga continued today with a new dose of drama. The All-Pro receiver liked several tweets referencing past accusations of sexual assault against Ben Roethlisberger, per Mike Florio of ProFootballTalk.com. The team has attempted to calm tempers and dial things back the past couple of weeks, but Brown has only gotten more aggressive in his demands to leave the team.

It had looked for a while recently like a reunion between the two sides was a real possibility, but actions like this are making those chances seem slimmer by the second. Roethlisberger isn’t going anywhere, and an argument between Brown and his longtime quarterback is apparently what sparked all of this back in Week 17. Crazier things have happened, but even though Brown will reportedly meet with Steelers owner Art Rooney soon, it still seems like a trade is inevitable.

Here’s more from around the AFC:

  • Tom Brady has famously taken somewhat of a discount on his contracts to help the Patriots build winning teams around him, and he’s in line for another new contract soon. The 41-year-old plans to keep playing until he’s 45, and is heading into the final year of his current deal in 2019. Former NFL agent and current CBS Sports analyst Joel Corry took a look at what an extension for Brady might look like, and what type of discount he might be willing to take this time around. Corry writes that it’s “extremely unlikely Brady will exploit his leverage” in negotiations, and that it’s only a “matter of how big of a discount he’ll give the Patriots.”
  • Speaking of the AFC East, two of the Patriots’ longtime rivals will be in position to make some major moves this offseason if they want to. The Bills “top the list of expected spenders with what should be close to $89 million to spend on free agents” this offseason, while the Jets are in second place “with about $88 million”, writes cap expert Jason Fitzgerald of Overthecap.com. The Jets and general manager Mike Maccagnan haven’t been shy about their desire to make a splash in free agency, while Buffalo will likely be much more conservative. New York has been frequently mentioned as a potential landing spot for Le’Veon Bell, and it’ll be very interesting to see what they do with all that money.
  • In case you missed it, former Jets offensive coordinator John Morton resurfaced with the Raiders yesterday.

Latest On Antonio Brown

February 15th, 2019 at 12:04pm CST by Zachary Links

Steelers owner Art Rooney II and wide receiver Antonio Brown will meet in Florida in an effort to clear the air, Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (on Twitter) hears. Initially, Brown was hesitant to meet, but this could be a big step towards reconciliation for the two sides. 

Brown has not been bashful about airing his grievances in public and has let the world know that he wants a trade. If things can’t be worked out quickly, trade discussions could ramp up during the draft combine period in Indianapolis.

The Steelers are reluctant to trade Brown because he is one of the game’s best wide receivers and dealing him would result in a major dead money cap charge. Meanwhile, word on the street is that they are unlikely to even fetch a first-round pick for him.

Of course, Brown has not done himself any favors by saying he wants a new deal if traded. The Steelers have lost a great deal of leverage over the past couple of months thanks to Brown’s outspokenness and the Steelers proved their mettle last year when they held their ground in the Le’Veon Bell standoff. Ultimately, the Steelers may be willing to play a game of chicken with Brown until he’s willing to mend fences with Ben Roethlisberger, Mike Tomlin, and other key figures in the organization.

One way or another, we should have a resolution by March 17, when Brown is due a $2.5MM roster bonus. If he is still on the Steelers’ roster on March 18, then he is likely to still be on it come Week 1.

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