The trade between the Pittsburgh Steelers and Oakland Raiders became official on Wednesday. The Steelers sent wide receiver Antonio Brown to Oakland for their third and fifth-round picks in 2019. At first, the trade didn’t seem like a great deal for the Steelers but it was acceptable.
Then the Cleveland Browns sold the whole farm to get Odell Beckham Jr. and the compensation Pittsburgh got for Brown seemed paltry by comparison. But general manager Kevin Colbert released a statement about the trade where he attempted to rationalize giving Brown away for so little.
When I read Colbert’s statement all I can think of is Pittsburgh was in a panic to get out from under this drama and because of Brown’s asinine contract demands to his next team were forced to just get what they could and close the door on a bad situation. There were almost certainly better offers out there but the Steelers couldn’t even entertain them due to Brown.
What do you all think? Was the compensation for Brown fair or was it just the best they could get given the circumstances Brown created? Colbert had said they wouldn’t trade him at a discount but this is exactly what they did. Should Pittsburgh has just held onto Brown and forced his hand instead?
