When the Pittsburgh Steelers traded disgruntled wide receiver Antonio Brown the sense was the Oakland Raiders were not the top option. There was plenty of scuttlebutt the Buffalo Bills were the first team in on Brown and it was actually Brown who nixed the deal because he was demanding a massive new contract from his receiving team.
This created a situation, according to ESPN reporter Jeremy Fowler, which has some NFL executive concerned about the precedent set. According to Fowler, the notion of a player looking to be treated as a free agent when they aren’t could be a problem.
But the reality is, this isn’t Brown’s fault in the least. It’s the Raiders fault. They caved to Brown’s demands and gave him a ridiculous contract in an attempt to facilitate the trade. But they didn’t have to. Brown bluffed he wouldn’t play unless he got the deal he wanted and the Raiders blinked.
Obviously, the Steelers are glad to be free from Brown’s antics but on some level, you have to wonder if Oakland hadn’t given in what direction the whole deal would have gone. You can bet this is just the beginning of cases like this and the league will only have the Raiders to thank for it.
