Steelers Had No Choice But To Trade Antonio Brown

[hawaiiansteeler]

Steelers Had No Choice But To Trade Antonio Brown

By Alex Kozora
Posted on March 10, 2019

Antonio Brown is gone. For a third and a fifth. I know, I know. It sucks. A lot.

Here’s a hard truth for you. It had to happen. Brown wasn’t going to be a Steeler in 2019 or ever again. You knew it. Kevin Colbert, despite his public comments, knew it. And unfortunately, so did the rest of the NFL.

And that means one thing. Never getting the value you want, need, or deserve.

Brown was as phenomenal in tanking his trade value as he is making toe-tap catches. Getting teams to jump out of the deal with his antics, veto ability – that’s why we’re talking about him as a Raider, not a Bill – and new contract as the cherry on top. It’s a minor miracle there were any teams still left in the hunt.

When options are thin, can’t keep him, hardly anyone to trade for him, the cost drops like its Enron stock. Pittsburgh had no leverage here. And I can imagine that’s how the conversation went.

to read rest of article:

https://steelersdepot.com/2019/03/steelers-had-no-choice-but-to-trade-antonio-brown/

[Shoes]

No, the Steelers were boxed into a corner because this FO & Tomlin placed this asshole above the entire team. Remember, We have to put up with AB until he's not productive bullshit! What an absurdity and blow to the gut of your team. Meanwhile back at the ranch, Rooney is running around doing his Baghdad Bob impersonation.

[JimHarbaugh'ssoakedtissue]

No, the Steelers were boxed into a corner because this FO & Tomlin placed this asshole above the entire team. Remember, "We have to put up with AB until he's not productive" bullshit! What an absurdity and blow to the gut of your team. Meanwhile back at the ranch, Rooney is running around doing his Baghdad Bob impersonation. Very well said Shoe! The Steelers had all the leverage and a choice. What is this article for ? So the Steelers Brass can save face and don't look like Bitches ?

[steelreserve]

They didn't "have" to do anything.

Like ... if you just don't pick up the phone, you've solved the problem better than this. You don't let the Raiders give you five in the stink, you don't eat the most dead money for a player in history - even if he holds out all of 2019 and you don't have the benefit of the player yourself, that actually works better for you than this trade. They picked the dumbest option on the table and ran right to it.

Brown held none of the cards, had no leverage, and for some reason we ran around frantically jumping through his hoops and running his errands and playing his bullshit games, and panicking ourselves with self-imposed deadlines. What a total embarrassment. Made everyone from Rooney on down look like a joke.

Really, after that crap where he "vetoed" the Buffalo deal ... like, you pull that kind of shit, then I'm done looking for trades. You want off the team, then you go find me my asking price on your own, I'm not lifting a fucking finger for you. Why are we running around at his beck and call like his errand boy in that situation.

I don't know what the worst part of this is - that it was so unnecessary; that we got such a terrible return for an optional trade; that it came at a time that not only closed our championship window but slammed it shut and nailed boards over it; that we did it to ourselves under artificial self-created pressure; that we have essentially taped a giant "kick me" sign to our back for the benefit of any player and all 31 other teams; or just the sickening lack of backbone that it took to make all of those pieces come together at each step of the way, pointing to organizational incompetence of a truly alarming scale; or the fact that inevitably this will be spun as "shit happens, it was out of our control, but stay the course, we're doing all right."

Or actually, the worst part is each one of those cascading into the next and making it worse, and observing this train wreck unfold in slow motion over the course of three months.

Not even a train wreck. A train full of manure crashing into a school bus full of manure, and then wrecking with another train full of manure that derails into a piss tanker. And then our response is to dump more manure onto it and then frantically try to lick the piss off the road before it all disappears.

[Shoes]

Very well said Shoe! The Steelers had all the leverage and a choice. What is this article for ? So the Steelers Brass can save face and don't look like Bitches ?

We can only hope that lessons were learned here and they move forward making the needed changes. If ArtII continues as Baghdad Bob this ship is sunk. I'm up to my throat with this nonsense.

[lipps83]

Steelers Had No Choice But To Trade Antonio Brown

By Alex Kozora
Posted on March 10, 2019

Antonio Brown is gone. For a third and a fifth. I know, I know. It sucks. A lot.

Here’s a hard truth for you. It had to happen. Brown wasn’t going to be a Steeler in 2019 or ever again. You knew it. Kevin Colbert, despite his public comments, knew it. And unfortunately, so did the rest of the NFL.

And that means one thing. Never getting the value you want, need, or deserve.

Brown was as phenomenal in tanking his trade value as he is making toe-tap catches. Getting teams to jump out of the deal with his antics, veto ability – that’s why we’re talking about him as a Raider, not a Bill – and new contract as the cherry on top. It’s a minor miracle there were any teams still left in the hunt.

When options are thin, can’t keep him, hardly anyone to trade for him, the cost drops like its Enron stock. Pittsburgh had no leverage here. And I can imagine that’s how the conversation went.

to read rest of article:

https://steelersdepot.com/2019/03/steelers-had-no-choice-but-to-trade-antonio-brown/

AB was a genius in orchestrating all of this. The real problem remains on the team and AB sunk this team in such a deep hole it is comical.

Good for Brown. It is too bad the front office will never wake up.

[JimHarbaugh'ssoakedtissue]

They didn't "have" to do anything.

Like ... if you just don't pick up the phone, you've solved the problem better than this. You don't let the Raiders give you five in the stink, you don't eat the most dead money for a player in history - even if he holds out all of 2019 and you don't have the benefit of the player yourself, that actually works better for you than this trade. They picked the dumbest option on the table and ran right to it.

Brown held none of the cards, had no leverage, and for some reason we ran around frantically jumping through his hoops and running his errands and playing his bullshit games, and panicking ourselves with self-imposed deadlines. What a total embarrassment. Made everyone from Rooney on down look like a joke.

Really, after that crap where he "vetoed" the Buffalo deal ... like, you pull that kind of shit, then I'm done looking for trades. You want off the team, then you go find me my asking price on your own, I'm not lifting a fucking finger for you. Why are we running around at his beck and call like his errand boy in that situation.

I don't know what the worst part of this is - that it was so unnecessary; that we got such a terrible return for an optional trade; that it came at a time that not only closed our championship window but slammed it shut and nailed boards over it; that we did it to ourselves under artificial self-created pressure; that we have essentially taped a giant "kick me" sign to our back for the benefit of any player and all 31 other teams; or just the sickening lack of backbone that it took to make all of those pieces come together at each step of the way, pointing to organizational incompetence of a truly alarming scale; or the fact that inevitably this will be spun as "shit happens, it was out of our control, but stay the course, we're doing all right."

Or actually, the worst part is each one of those cascading into the next and making it worse, and observing this train wreck unfold in slow motion over the course of three months.

Not even a train wreck. A train full of manure crashing into a school bus full of manure, and then wrecking with another train full of manure that derails into a piss tanker. And then our response is to dump more manure onto it and then frantically try to lick the piss off the road before it all disappears. Best post on the whole mess!!!!!!!!!! I will add since Dan Rooney past this behavior will continue even minus AB and Bell. This shit would have never happen if Dan was still around!

[Mojouw]

Figure that this shows the NFL is as scared as drama as most hear argue they should be. Steelers were so scared they forced the move. Rest of league was so scared that only the Raiders were game to give it a whirl. Not coincidentally the only team with a coach/gm whose contract makes him untouchable.

I swear, none of these morons actually understands why things work or don’t work. Which is why they can’t repeat success or avoid failures and have to resort to cliches to talk about football.

No wonder the Patriots win every year. They actually know why they are doing what they are doing. Honestly, I’ve become convinced over the past year and a half that 60% of the key decision makers in NFL franchises are simply not very smart.

Couple that with the constant drumbeat of downright asinine analysis that repeats on an endless media loop, and it’s a wonder anyone can manage to make a decent decision.

[Shoes]

They didn't "have" to do anything.

Like ... if you just don't pick up the phone, you've solved the problem better than this. You don't let the Raiders give you five in the stink, you don't eat the most dead money for a player in history - even if he holds out all of 2019 and you don't have the benefit of the player yourself, that actually works better for you than this trade. They picked the dumbest option on the table and ran right to it.

Brown held none of the cards, had no leverage, and for some reason we ran around frantically jumping through his hoops and running his errands and playing his bullshit games, and panicking ourselves with self-imposed deadlines. What a total embarrassment. Made everyone from Rooney on down look like a joke.

Really, after that crap where he "vetoed" the Buffalo deal ... like, you pull that kind of shit, then I'm done looking for trades. You want off the team, then you go find me my asking price on your own, I'm not lifting a fucking finger for you. Why are we running around at his beck and call like his errand boy in that situation.

I don't know what the worst part of this is - that it was so unnecessary; that we got such a terrible return for an optional trade; that it came at a time that not only closed our championship window but slammed it shut and nailed boards over it; that we did it to ourselves under artificial self-created pressure; that we have essentially taped a giant "kick me" sign to our back for the benefit of any player and all 31 other teams; or just the sickening lack of backbone that it took to make all of those pieces come together at each step of the way, pointing to organizational incompetence of a truly alarming scale; or the fact that inevitably this will be spun as "shit happens, it was out of our control, but stay the course, we're doing all right."

Or actually, the worst part is each one of those cascading into the next and making it worse, and observing this train wreck unfold in slow motion over the course of three months.

Not even a train wreck. A train full of manure crashing into a school bus full of manure, and then wrecking with another train full of manure that derails into a piss tanker. And then our response is to dump more manure onto it and then frantically try to lick the piss off the road before it all disappears.


That is some realistic painting there SR. :chuckle:

[86WARD]

No...just had to up the game from tee ball to hard ball. Steelers are stuck in that coach pitch league,,,afraid to play hardball.

[Mojouw]

https://www.theringer.com/nfl/2019/3/11/18259834/antonio-brown-trade-raiders-steelers

Interesting piece that ties together some ideas that have been floating around in my head in a far more coherent manner than I have been able to do.

1. The contract system/CBA is going to keep creating these types of situations. Cousins, Mack, and Donald handle their holdouts with more class but not that different of a root cause. Rodgers proposed a sliding contract that scaled with the cap. Too innovative for GB to stomach. The pay scale and structure that is used around the league is creating a toxic environment of cheap rookies, stars who are in a competition to be the highest paid, and squeezing out the "middle range veteran contract". That's gonna create some bad feelings and stupid decisions amongst players.

2. IF AB is such a "cancer" then why didn't the Steelers weaponize it and trade him away to a close AFC rival? Likely because it really isn't that big of a deal and they know it. Or maybe it is and only the Coach/GM with the 100 million dollar 10 year gig could risk trading for such a toxic asset? Seriously, I think most NFL GMs are cowards that are more scared of losing their jobs than anything else. So risk averse that they are hesitant to do anything that their peers and the pundits would view as "out of the ordinary".

3. No one really knows what makes up a winning football team or player. Everyone keeps trying to analyze it and pin it down. But no one really understands it and is able to specifically quantify it. However, everyone talks and acts like they can. So it is a constant stream of nonsense where everyone is trying to distill down the unidentifiable to some specific set of rules and blueprint to follow. I really think there is no ONE way to win in the NFL and wish that these franchises would aggressively realize that. You don't have to do what everyone else is doing. I see the "failure" of the AB trade as the Steelers caving to conventional wisdom that trading a problem child player for anything was better than putting up with a distracting problem. And few teams wanting to trade anything of actual value for a HOF caliber WR as everyone hiding behind the conventional wisdom that distractions are the devil's brew.

OK. Rant over. I do honestly believe that situations like this are going to keep happening until the fundamental structure of the CBA is changed. Players hate it. Social Media gives them a platform. Over-fed egos give them the idea that it is justified.

[munchy]

They didn't "have" to do anything.

Like ... if you just don't pick up the phone, you've solved the problem better than this. You don't let the Raiders give you five in the stink, you don't eat the most dead money for a player in history - even if he holds out all of 2019 and you don't have the benefit of the player yourself, that actually works better for you than this trade. They picked the dumbest option on the table and ran right to it.

Brown held none of the cards, had no leverage, and for some reason we ran around frantically jumping through his hoops and running his errands and playing his bullshit games, and panicking ourselves with self-imposed deadlines. What a total embarrassment. Made everyone from Rooney on down look like a joke.

Really, after that crap where he "vetoed" the Buffalo deal ... like, you pull that kind of shit, then I'm done looking for trades. You want off the team, then you go find me my asking price on your own, I'm not lifting a fucking finger for you. Why are we running around at his beck and call like his errand boy in that situation.

I don't know what the worst part of this is - that it was so unnecessary; that we got such a terrible return for an optional trade; that it came at a time that not only closed our championship window but slammed it shut and nailed boards over it; that we did it to ourselves under artificial self-created pressure; that we have essentially taped a giant "kick me" sign to our back for the benefit of any player and all 31 other teams; or just the sickening lack of backbone that it took to make all of those pieces come together at each step of the way, pointing to organizational incompetence of a truly alarming scale; or the fact that inevitably this will be spun as "shit happens, it was out of our control, but stay the course, we're doing all right."

Or actually, the worst part is each one of those cascading into the next and making it worse, and observing this train wreck unfold in slow motion over the course of three months.

Not even a train wreck. A train full of manure crashing into a school bus full of manure, and then wrecking with another train full of manure that derails into a piss tanker. And then our response is to dump more manure onto it and then frantically try to lick the piss off the road before it all disappears.


awesome

[steelreserve]

That is some realistic painting there SR. :chuckle:

That's cause I'm a wordsmith, y'all. Piss tanker.

[Shoes]

That's cause I'm a wordsmith, y'all. Piss tanker.

I laughed so hard after reading that last night my wife thought I was having a heart attack. :lol:

[DesertSteel]

The problem is that leadership never attempted to manage AB’s ego. They simply indulged it until it was out of control then it had to be cut out like a cancer. You don’t think Bill Parcells had to manage the ego of a guy like Lawrence Taylor? The NBA has much better examples and like it or not, the NFL is becoming more like the NBA every day. It’s time to send coaches to ego-management training.

[BlackAndGold]

1105209507574099970

1105212040510169089

[steelreserve]

1105212040510169089

... and who "won" in those trades? Was either one a smart move?

Oh, wait, both of the teams who made those trades went straight into the dumper for a decade. So glad we're following in such esteemed footsteps.

[Shoes]

I see Dulac is trying to keep his parking space at Steeler HQ by doing some damage control for them

[Mojouw]

Well they got better than what the Bucs got...not a lot...but better...

https://www.rotoworld.com/football/nfl/player/12161/desean-jackson

Eagles acquired WR DeSean Jackson from the Buccaneers for a 2019 sixth-round pick and a 2020 seventh-round pick.

[steelreserve]

Well they got better than what the Bucs got...not a lot...but better...

https://www.rotoworld.com/football/nfl/player/12161/desean-jackson

Eagles acquired WR DeSean Jackson from the Buccaneers for a 2019 sixth-round pick and a 2020 seventh-round pick.

Yeah, but look at the quality of the player they traded. Desean Jackson? I was honestly surprised to find out he was still in the league at all.

[zulater]

AB was a genius in orchestrating all of this. The real problem remains on the team and AB sunk this team in such a deep hole it is comical.

Good for Brown. It is too bad the front office will never wake up.

If it was orchestrated it was by Rosenhaus. Brown doesn't have enough brains to do it. My guess is it was a combination random immaturity and jealousy on AB's part combined with Rosenhaus fanning the flames behind the scenes with T.O. and Ocho Stinko whispering sweet nothings in his ear all the while. As soon as Odell Beckham surpassed his contract idiot boy got a case of the raging butt hurts. He came into camp with a surly attitude and maintained it throughout the season. Then, God forbid, Ju Ju got team MVP and that was more than he could handle. This idiot will blow up in Oakland ( or Vegas) soon enough. Good riddance to him. The Steelers will survive just fine.

[zulater]

I see Dulac is trying to keep his parking space at Steeler HQ by doing some damage control for them

No, he and all the local beat reporters for the Steelers have a more accurate read on things than the national sports media. Just because he provides reasonable assessments of how all the actors actually performed as things transpired instead of feeding into the 'woke' national media take that the Steelers are all bad and stupid and Brown is all smart and good and that doesn't appease your current mad-on at the team doesn't make him wrong.

I don't know, but when virtually every local reporter who was at the facility for most every day of the week for the past 20 years is telling me a different story than reporters who take on faith every word of a moron with a bleached mustache who can barely talk in complete sentences I'm going with them probably being right.

[Mojouw]

Yeah, but look at the quality of the player they traded. Desean Jackson? I was honestly surprised to find out he was still in the league at all.

Why? Jackson is not the catch machine that AB is, but 2 out of the last 3 years he led the league in yards per catch. Not his fault that he was mainly watching inaccurate passes from Jameis Winston sail over his head.

There is a gap between AB and Desean Jackson. But not the same kind of gap there is between Brandon Cooks and Desean Jackson.

[BlackAndGold]

... and who "won" in those trades? Was either one a smart move?

Oh, wait, both of the teams who made those trades went straight into the dumper for a decade. So glad we're following in such esteemed footsteps.

Pats also traded Moss for a 3rd after a great year...

There was one team in the running for AB, and there was no way the Steelers should have kept him. a 3rd was his value, unfortunately.

[Fire Goodell]

... and who "won" in those trades? Was either one a smart move?

Oh, wait, both of the teams who made those trades went straight into the dumper for a decade. So glad we're following in such esteemed footsteps.

None of them won. How many championships resulted from that trade? ZERO

[steelreserve]

None of them won. How many championships resulted from that trade? ZERO

I was referring more to the state of the teams that traded Moss and T.O. for low-round garbage. What happened to THEM? They ate shit, that's what. I bet neither of them had $21 million of dead money as a result of those trades, either.

Basically, a move like this is a warning flag of problems within the organization. And we've had two of them in the last 8 months. Not so good.

For what it's worth, both of the teams that traded for Moss and Owens ended up at least GOING to the Super Bowl soon after. It's not as if the move blew up in their faces or was just a lot of running around for nothing. Raiders may not be a Super Bowl caliber team, but we definitely got the short end of this stick, and it was not just some trivial lark that can be blown off.