Updated: Steelers open to trading Antonio Brown - Rooney sees it hard bringing him back

[ndirish1978]

Trading for AB would be stupid. He quit on his own team. By all reports he's a complete jagoff who doesn't respect anyone around him (cussed out Dick LeBeau). He can't coexist with Poyer, who by all accounts is a team leader on defense. In order to bring in AB we would have to get rid of Poyer, which would screw our defensive backfield up, not just because we'd need a starting S, but how happy do you think the rest of that unit is going to be bringing in a me-first diva at the expense of one of their leaders?

[berg1029]

5 minutes ago, ndirish1978 said:

Trading for AB would be stupid. He quit on his own team. By all reports he's a complete jagoff who doesn't respect anyone around him (cussed out Dick LeBeau). He can't coexist with Poyer, who by all accounts is a team leader on defense. In order to bring in AB we would have to get rid of Poyer, which would screw our defensive backfield up, not just because we'd need a starting S, but how happy do you think the rest of that unit is going to be bringing in a me-first diva at the expense of one of their leaders?

 

Not really sure what you're talking about here with Poyer and AB not being able to coexist.  What happened between the two of them?

 

edit:  coming into this thread a bit late.  from what I've come to understand about AB, it sounds like he is the type of personality that Beane and McDermott have been actively trying to exclude from the locker room.  I doubt they make a move for him, no matter how talented he is

Edited January 14, 2019 by berg1029

[3rdand12]

4 hours ago, berg1029 said:

 

Not really sure what you're talking about here with Poyer and AB not being able to coexist.  What happened between the two of them?

 

edit:  coming into this thread a bit late.  from what I've come to understand about AB, it sounds like he is the type of personality that Beane and McDermott have been actively trying to exclude from the locker room.  I doubt they make a move for him, no matter how talented he is

I hope this is true.

Bills can improve many positions this year and for winning in the future.

If they could find five to seven reasonable players in FA who are upgrades or solid projects i would be pleased. Draft BPA generally speaking.

Better the whole team over grabbing an elite player who may or may not fit the mold of a Buffalo Bill.
I would rather get multiple targets who could make plays and a run game than one player who demands double coverage at this point in the Build.

[JohnC]

Not sure how much credibility there is to this reporting about AB's interest in the 49ers. 

https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/nfl/steelers/2019/01/14/antonio-brown-pittsburgh-steelers-jerry-rice-niners/2572232002/

 

 

 

[Alphadawg7]

What I do find amusing is how many people "dont want" AB yet we all know the second he becomes a Bill everyone is going to do backflips and get excited.  

 

Personally I do not think he will become a Bill because this draft is so rich at WR, I think Beane and McD will look there for a starting WR and use FA to add some quietly vets, like a Humphris for instance.  But if he was to become a Bill, all the people so against will quickly change their tune and lose their minds.  

[Punching Bag]

On 1/12/2019 at 8:17 PM, offyourocker said:

I believe Bell is a free agent after not playing this year. 

 

No if you do not play rights remain with team.  He could have signed the tender week 10 to force Steelers to raise amount they needed to pay him to tag him next year.

[YoloinOhio]

The pool narrows to 30

 

 

[Figster]

15 hours ago, Alphadawg7 said:

What I do find amusing is how many people "dont want" AB yet we all know the second he becomes a Bill everyone is going to do backflips and get excited.  

 

Personally I do not think he will become a Bill because this draft is so rich at WR, I think Beane and McD will look there for a starting WR and use FA to add some quietly vets, like a Humphris for instance.  But if he was to become a Bill, all the people so against will quickly change their tune and lose their minds.  

and more backflips when Allen and Brown start building chemistry,

 

Elite WR's want the ball, the responsibility to move the chains, the spotlight and all the money/ popularity that goes with it.

 

Myself personally, trading Watkins was a hard pill for me to swallow. Antonio Brown would help make up for it.

 

 Brown is a football player 1st I think was McD's comment If I remember correctly...

[Alphadawg7]

9 minutes ago, Figster said:

and more backflips when Allen and Brown start building chemistry,

 

Elite WR's want the ball, the responsibility to move the chains, the spotlight and all the money/ popularity that goes with it.

 

Myself personally, trading Watkins was a hard pill for me to swallow. Antonio Brown would help make up for it.

 

 Brown is a football player 1st I think was McD's comment If I remember correctly...

 

Agreed...and funny, I use my cell a lot when on this board so I often don’t see all the typos in a post of mine until someone replies and quotes it.  Stupid auto correct and my big hands typing so fast on an iPhone hahaha

[Mat68]

Can Allen get him the ball enough? Yes.  If he is the most productive Wr on the team and one of the best in the league will he be an issue? I dont think he will be. Is there an offensive weapon at 9 worth taking? No.  Ab and a 2nd for 9.  Biggest hole filled.  At some point you need guys who are better players than the other teams.  Allens youthful leadership and McDermotts no nonsense approach may be the right combo for Brown.  You have to 100% discuss it and make an effort for it.  Ab, a FA wr and Te opens the whole draft up for Buffalo.  They are making a football team not s bible study group.  He will be motivated to prove Pits wrong, and show he is not a product of Roethlisberger.  Many here felt the same way about Shady and To before they got here.  Both were nothing but professionals here.  

[billsfan_34]

Why would anyone give up assets for him? Let the Steelers deal with him and potentially have to release him. They want what, a 1? Plus a 21 mil cap hit? 

17 hours ago, Alphadawg7 said:

What I do find amusing is how many people "dont want" AB yet we all know the second he becomes a Bill everyone is going to do backflips and get excited.  

 

Personally I do not think he will become a Bill because this draft is so rich at WR, I think Beane and McD will look there for a starting WR and use FA to add some quietly vets, like a Humphris for instance.  But if he was to become a Bill, all the people so against will quickly change their tune and lose their minds.  

I will be in the not everyone crowd thank you very much.

[billsfan_34]

6 minutes ago, Mat68 said:

Can Allen get him the ball enough? Yes.  If he is the most productive Wr on the team and one of the best in the league will he be an issue? I dont think he will be. Is there an offensive weapon at 9 worth taking? No.  Ab and a 2nd for 9.  Biggest hole filled.  At some point you need guys who are better players than the other teams.  Allens youthful leadership and McDermotts no nonsense approach may be the right combo for Brown.  You have to 100% discuss it and make an effort for it.  Ab, a FA wr and Te opens the whole draft up for Buffalo.  They are making a football team not s bible study group.  He will be motivated to prove Pits wrong, and show he is not a product of Roethlisberger.  Many here felt the same way about Shady and To before they got here.  Both were nothing but professionals here.  

So you want to give up a 1 (and maybe more), absorb the cap hit, and have a potential jerk in the locker room? Also, he is on the wrong side of 30. The only one who would win is the Steelers, the way I see it. Count me out on this one.

[Mat68]

Just now, billsfan_34 said:

So you want to give up a 1 (and maybe more), absorb the cap hit, and have a potential jerk in the locker room? Also, he is on the wrong side of 30. The only one who would win is the Steelers, the way I see it. Count me out on this one.

Yep.  Rules in place protect wrs.  His work ethic is second to none.  To become a contender you need elite players.  Alot of elite players have egos.  They are not saving the Manatees, they are trying to build a Championship caliber team.  I think Buffalo has a qb that matches Browns ability.  He is a great deep threat, makes contested catches in tight coverage.  I expect Brown to have 3 more seasons of top play.  Would rather pay Brown top money than over pay for a middle of the road Wr in FA.  Terms I would be comfortable with 9 for Brown and a day 2 pick back.  Prefer brown swap firsts with our pick being top 10.  Probably though 9 and get their 2nd if I had to I would take their 3rd.  Same number of picks, essentially trading down and getting brown in return.

[billsfan_34]

1 minute ago, Mat68 said:

Yep.  Rules in place protect wrs.  His work ethic is second to none.  To become a contender you need elite players.  Alot of elite players have egos.  They are not saving the Manatees, they are trying to build a Championship caliber team.  I think Buffalo has a qb that matches Browns ability.  He is a great deep threat, makes contested catches in tight coverage.  I expect Brown to have 3 more seasons of top play.  Would rather pay Brown top money than over pay for a middle of the road Wr in FA.  Terms I would be comfortable with 9 for Brown and a day 2 pick back.  Prefer brown swap firsts with our pick being top 10.  Probably though 9 and get their 2nd if I had to I would take their 3rd.  Same number of picks, essentially trading down and getting brown in return.

Agree to disagree- guess time will tell how the Bills brass feels about him. 

[Figster]

2 hours ago, billsfan_34 said:

So you want to give up a 1 (and maybe more), absorb the cap hit, and have a potential jerk in the locker room? Also, he is on the wrong side of 30. The only one who would win is the Steelers, the way I see it. Count me out on this one.

Antonio Brown has grown accustomed to finding soft spots in the oppositions D when a play breaks down because he knows Big Ben will in many instances extend the play. To me Josh Allen is very similar in that respect and it would not surprise me to see the same type of production from Brown with the Buffalo Bills.

 

In my humble opinion billsfan_34 

[YoloinOhio]

I just heard Eric Wood interviewed. He said that the culture is now established at OBD and they have enough leaders in the locker room that he would not be surprised to see 1-2 “malcontents” so to speak brought in this year if the talent warranted, and specifically mentioned AB. He insinuated that while the culture was still being built in the 1st 2 years, they may not have considered it.  Just found it interesting. 

Edited January 16, 2019 by YoloinOhio

[thebandit27]

5 minutes ago, YoloinOhio said:

I just heard Eric Wood interviewed. He said that the culture is now established at OBD and they have enough leaders in the locker room that he would not be surprised to see 1-2 “malcontents” so to speak brought in this year if the talent warranted, and specifically mentioned AB. He insinuated that while the culture was still being built in the 1st 2 years, they may not have considered it.  Just found it interesting. 

 

Don't be surprised if they try 

[YoloinOhio]

2 minutes ago, thebandit27 said:

 

Don't be surprised if they try 

I’m sure the Steelers want to trade him out of conference if possible, but if the deal is better from the Bills they would need to consider that. 

[thebandit27]

4 minutes ago, YoloinOhio said:

I’m sure the Steelers want to trade him out of conference if possible, but if the deal is better from the Bills they would need to consider that. 

 

Keep in mind that we play them in Pittsburgh im 2019

[YoloinOhio]

10 minutes ago, thebandit27 said:

 

Keep in mind that we play them in Pittsburgh im 2019

I was thinking about that. Does that hurt our cause?

[DE Bills Fan]

Totally don't want that POS on our team. It would be hard to root for someone so self-absorbed and selfish. We can do better......

[ctk232]

50 minutes ago, YoloinOhio said:

I just heard Eric Wood interviewed. He said that the culture is now established at OBD and they have enough leaders in the locker room that he would not be surprised to see 1-2 “malcontents” so to speak brought in this year if the talent warranted, and specifically mentioned AB. He insinuated that while the culture was still being built in the 1st 2 years, they may not have considered it.  Just found it interesting. 

Saw that too - McD does want a focus on culture and attitude in the lockerroom, and while his focus is finding guys who put football first, he's open to guys who may have character flaws if they are willing to buy into the system/process and commit to working on themselves.

 

I think that's the important piece we miss in this conversation about culture - it's not that McD wants character guys first, and only that, and I think Dareus was a prime example of this. We parted ways with him halfway through the season for myriad reasons, but McD attempted to get him to buy into the system as far as I can tell as a third-party reader/observer. Dareus simply didn't want to buy in. It seemed his lack of motivation and commitment to working on himself and buying into the process was likely the impasse the FO and him couldn't get past (among other issues like skipping workouts, practice effort, etc.). 

 

To me, AB is clearly more the media cancer as his WR drama is of the thread that guarantees sports writers high readership with enticing titles so they will beat his dead horse well into its next life, and exacerbate any transgression into a larger issue than it likely is as it means a higher paycheck for them. But if the FO believes he has the potential to buy into the system and team, and work on himself, they'll forego the past transgressions for a chance to prove himself differently and obtain an elite WR talent in the league for however long. To Woodsy's point here - because McD emphasized culture in his first two years, he's established that base for moving forward, and has identified team leaders to see it through. If they believe that culture has stuck given this, it makes sense they would be open to testing the waters with guys like AB. What's more, I feel this FO would have no issue dealing with AB if he did somehow become a problem for the guys on the team.

Edited January 16, 2019 by ctk232

[thebandit27]

22 minutes ago, YoloinOhio said:

I was thinking about that. Does that hurt our cause?

 

No idea, but I would guess that it does.

[Captain_Quint]

On 1/15/2019 at 12:11 PM, Figster said:

 

 

Myself personally, trading Watkins was a hard pill for me to swallow. Antonio Brown would help make up for it.

 

 

I agree with this, and the timing would be right now that we have a qb who can throw the ball.  

[njbuff]

On 1/14/2019 at 8:21 PM, Alphadawg7 said:

What I do find amusing is how many people "dont want" AB yet we all know the second he becomes a Bill everyone is going to do backflips and get excited.  

 

Personally I do not think he will become a Bill because this draft is so rich at WR, I think Beane and McD will look there for a starting WR and use FA to add some quietly vets, like a Humphris for instance.  But if he was to become a Bill, all the people so against will quickly change their tune and lose their minds.  

 

I’m ok with whatever decision they make.

 

There are folks in NFL circles that strongly believe that the Bills have heavy interest in trading for him. I don’t buy it personally.

 

Tfrere are a million ways the Bills could go this offseason.

[BuffaloHokie13]

28 minutes ago, thebandit27 said:

 

No idea, but I would guess that it does.

Give them a 2020 2nd that becomes a 3rd if he doesn't play against them in 2019

[YoloinOhio]

lol

[Aussie Joe]

19 minutes ago, YoloinOhio said:

lol

 

The guy just oozes Process...

 

Get him in here..

[YoloinOhio]

Beef alert. 

 

 

[Happy]

Someone will sign AB and pay too much money.  I just don't think the other 31 teams will all be tripping over themselves to get him.

[SWATeam]

1 minute ago, Happy Gilmore said:

Someone will sign AB and pay too much money.  I just don't think the other 31 teams will all be tripping over themselves to get him.

He's not a free agent.  You think he'll be cut?

[Logic]

I have gone back and forth all week on the notion of the Bills bringing in Antonio Brown.

There's no doubt that no single player acquisition this offseason would transform the Bills offense quite like acquiring Antonio Brown. Having him on one side and Foster on the other would be a NIGHTMARE for offenses, in terms of the speed and explosive playmaking ability they present.

HOWEVER...With all of the careful work Beane and McDermott have done in establishing a culture of teamwork, selflessness, and high character, I think the risk is just too great in bringing in such a volatile personality with as much baggage as Brown has. If he was missing practices for a perennial contender like the Steelers, how would he behave on a team like the Bills, who haven't been consistently successful in years? How will he behave if Allen goes through a sophomore slump or fails to get Brown the ball in a couple consecutive games?

All in all, as much talent as Brown brings to the table, I just don't think the Bills can risk it, and I don't think they will.

[Reed83HOF]

 

[Happy]

6 minutes ago, SWATeam said:

He's not a free agent.  You think he'll be cut?

 

I suspect it won't come down to the Steelers cutting him.  He'll be traded for less than his market value just to be rid of him.  Other teams know this and someone will make an offer to Pitt out of FOMO alone.

[Solomon Grundy]

26 minutes ago, Logic said:

I have gone back and forth all week on the notion of the Bills bringing in Antonio Brown.

There's no doubt that no single player acquisition this offseason would transform the Bills offense quite like acquiring Antonio Brown. Having him on one side and Foster on the other would be a NIGHTMARE for offenses, in terms of the speed and explosive playmaking ability they present.

HOWEVER...With all of the careful work Beane and McDermott have done in establishing a culture of teamwork, selflessness, and high character, I think the risk is just too great in bringing in such a volatile personality with as much baggage as Brown has. If he was missing practices for a perennial contender like the Steelers, how would he behave on a team like the Bills, who haven't been consistently successful in years? How will he behave if Allen goes through a sophomore slump or fails to get Brown the ball in a couple consecutive games?

All in all, as much talent as Brown brings to the table, I just don't think the Bills can risk it, and I don't think they will.

Everybody thought TO was gonna be a problem yet he was a model citizen. If the Bills get a chance to get AB, for the right price, they have to get him.

[Jay_Fixit]

1 hour ago, YoloinOhio said:

lol

I guess we’ve just given up on grammar now.

[Hapless Bills Fan]

3 hours ago, YoloinOhio said:

lol

 

Bruce Arians didn't say he drafted Antonio Brown.

He said he wasn't the same player that was drafted in 2010.

 

To which the response is "well DUH"

 

[DCOrange]

1 hour ago, Hapless Bills Fan said:

 

Bruce Arians didn't say he drafted Antonio Brown.

He said he wasn't the same player that was drafted in 2010.

 

To which the response is "well DUH"

 

One of the Bucs writers clarified that Arians did say that they drafted him, and that Arians is 100% correct. They drafted Sanders and Antonio the same year lol

[Starr Almighty]

Bills fans: Don't trade for AB he's a headcase that produces every Sunday

 

Also Bills fans: I love Zay for trying to jump off a building and not doing much every Sunday ??‍♂️??‍♂️

[4merper4mer]

A lot of moving parts.  Some of them line up with it making sense for the Bills.  I think one of those is potential synergy with Allen.  Many of the parts don't line up though.  The "me" thing is a factor.  I can see the Bills on the outskirts of this but the teams I see at the forefront:

 

Sea, SF, Saints?, Raiders, Chargers, Colts?

 

Dallas and Wash are always in play for anything.