The New Orleans Saints have been mentioned as a potential trade partner with the Pittsburgh Steelers as they look to move superstar wide receiver Antonio Brown. But to hear Saints head coach Sean Payton tell it, that speculation is news to him.
When approached by members of the New Orleans media at the NFL Scouting Combine in Indianapolis, Payton was laughably coy in response to whether any conversations on a possible trade had occurred, internally or with Pittsburgh: “No, and I wouldn’t tell you if we had. Look, I’ve followed it a little bit like you guys have, and that’s really about it.”
Interest spiked in a theoretical match between the Steelers and Saints when NFL Network’s Mike Silver suggested fans should “keep an eye on the Saints” as speculation picks up. Whether there’s anything to Silver’s comment — the Saints need another receiver to pair with Michael Thomas, and the Steelers need to move Brown out of the conference — remains to be seen.
Whichever team trades for Brown will take on a $15-million salary cap hit in 2019, and similar hits in subsequent years. The Saints are projected to have about $11.5-million in cap space for 2019 right now, and over $105-million in 2020. They wouldn’t need to get very creative to add Brown’s salary and pay Thomas his own big extension, though it’s not known what the Steelers would accept to trade Brown away.
But judging from Payton’s public comments, there’s not much to this story.
