SI.com: Why Antonio Brown's Trade to the Bills Fell Through

[wppete]

F#@! U AB!

[Reed83HOF]

27 minutes ago, Pete said:

I love seeing huge egos get crushed.  AB got his panties in a wad because his teammates voted JuJu MVP- that says a lot.  AB has done all he can to sabotage any adequate compensation.  He is being childish, only agreeing to be traded to certain teams.  And then that team must tear up existing 3 year contract, and make AB highest paid player in NFL.  AB thinks he is calling shots.  He is not.  No team will overpay for him.  And his value is plummeting.  The Steelers are in a bind.  Most every team has withdrawn from trade talks.  March 13 is coming up.  Grab your popcorn.  And don't forget about the Le'veon show.  Last I saw Bell was campaigning to be an Eagle

Bell is not making up the money he lost this past season either....

 

[GunnerBill]

46 minutes ago, ProcessAccepted said:

 

I'm not convinced that it's based on whether the team is in rebuild mode or not. I think he'd happily go the the Giants or the Jets. I think he wants the money and a big market city. I do agree with you though that the deal may get resurrected. His agent can take him through the whole TO saga from a first hand experience and maybe he'll see that he's damaging his long term earning potential.

 

Yes I think that is part of it, yes. I think he'd still want anew deal from both of those too (and Washington might be in that category), but possibly not to same degree as to sign for the Bills, the Titans or the Raiders.

[buffaloboyinATL]

He is trying to dictate where he goes by refusing to sign with teams he doesn’t want to play for. This will ultimately mean the Steelers will either need to eventually accept less in a trade for a team he will “approve” or keep his contract and deal with eventual hold out. He currently has them over a barrel as long as he is ok not playing this season.  (Which he claims he is.)

[GunnerBill]

21 minutes ago, steven50 said:

Shady wasn't a known team cancer, and he wasn't 31 when we made the trade. Down the road for this guy is 34 or 35 yrs old.

 

I'm not sure I buy the "team cancer" thing. I don't like using that word to be honest in this context, but let me say this.... I think the real problem in the Steelers locker room is still there and is a franchise legend and very difficult, if not impossible, to move on from. Brown is a diva, and walking off the field is not acceptable... but he hasn't been a regular problem child over the last 4 or 5 seasons.... whereas their Quarterback has - calling out coordinators, coaches, teammates etc on his stupid radio show.

 

On the age thing - yep. You are dead right on that. Kicking the can down the road for Brown makes little sense.

[Misterbluesky]

15 minutes ago, hemma said:

Beane just got a lot of free advertising from the media.

 

"I'm serious, have money to spend and open for business."

 

 

Did you know Beane spends some nights at OBD? 

His dedication to his job and our franchise shouldn't be tested,he's blessed to have a family that understands his type of work at this point of the year.

Sitting with his family, just outside his office,in a conference room eating delivered take out will take a toll on him sooner or later...thankfully he's a eager,young hired gun at this point in his career...

 

[GunnerBill]

1 minute ago, buffaloboyinATL said:

He is trying to dictate where he goes by refusing to sign with teams he doesn’t want to play for. This will ultimately mean the Steelers will either need to eventually accept less in a trade for a team he will “approve” or keep his contract and deal with eventual hold out. He currently has them over a barrel as long as he is ok not playing this season.  (Which he claims he is.)

 

Yea - I get the point that others have made about other teams spending their cap space but there are always ways of giving him a new deal to manage that (huge up front signing bonus that amortizes, bring his hit down this year but more cash up front in real terms). I am entirely with you. Brown is in no rush here. He can afford to sit it out and the Steelers' fake deadlines carry no sway. If he is still there come the draft there will be teams talking to Pittsburgh then too. Does anyone really think missing OTAs makes a blind bit of difference to AB? Nope. Does it make a difference to the Steelers who will have Tomline being asked everytime he is near a microphone? I think it is a distraction they'd rather not have.

1 minute ago, Misterbluesky said:

Did you know Beane spends some nights at OBD? 

His dedication to his job and our franchise shouldn't be tested,he's blessed to have a family that understands his type of work at this point of the year.

Sitting with his family, just outside his office,in a conference room eating delivered take out will take a toll on him sooner or later...thankfully he's a eager,young hired gun at this point in his career...

 

 

Doesn't surprise me. Whether they fail or succeed I have zero doubt this regime is willing to put the work in.

[Pete]

3 minutes ago, buffaloboyinATL said:

He is trying to dictate where he goes by refusing to sign with teams he doesn’t want to play for. This will ultimately mean the Steelers will either need to eventually accept less in a trade for a team he will “approve” or keep his contract and deal with eventual hold out. He currently has them over a barrel as long as he is ok not playing this season.  (Which he claims he is.)

Steelers don't need to do *****.  Let AB sit.  He won't sit all year.  Who couldn't use $15 million?  I doubt any team will make AB highest paid WR, especially after this on going childish tantrum.  Steelers should hold onto him, and trade him later in season, or at least after they get adequate compensation.  And AB needs to relax on his demands.  No team will concede.  Smash AB's ego Steelers

[Your Brown Eye]

Because he's a jackass, plain and simple

[BuffaloMatt]

#CobbSalad

[buffaloboyinATL]

2 minutes ago, GunnerBill said:

 

.Does anyone really think missing OTAs makes a blind bit of difference to AB? Nope. Does it make a difference to the Steelers who will have Tomline being asked everytime he is near a microphone? I think it is a distraction they'd rather not have.

Exactly!  He loves all of this attention. A hold out only keeps him in the news, which he loves.

[thurst44]

13 minutes ago, Reed83HOF said:

Bell is not making up the money he lost this past season either....

 

This is why I suspect it's more than AB simply "refusing" to come. I'd bet if that were the case there would be a blitz of players who love Buffalo trying to change his mind, or Beane would just give it a shot as there's such a long history of players who complain about coming to Buffalo (from Kelly to Shady) who now absolutely love it. 

[K-9]

31 minutes ago, hemma said:

Beane just got a lot of free advertising from the media.

 

"I'm serious, have money to spend and open for business."

 

 

“And willing to trade down for the right deal.”

[mannc]

1 hour ago, YoloinOhio said:

Merge if needed but I looked through the last few pages of the other giant thread and could find this article referenced but not posted 

https://www.si.com/nfl/2019/03/08/antonio-brown-steelers-bills-failed-trade-fallout

Yolo, no offense, but I'm calling BS on this story.  The Bills had to have had a very good idea how much Brown would be asking for before they opened up serious discussions with Pittsburgh.  The Bills have tons of cap space and they had to expect that Brown would be looking to become the highest paid WR in the league (until the next contract extension).  I don't believe $ was the what made this fall apart. I think this is just the Bills trying to spin the situation to make themselves look better after being left at the alter. 

 

There's no question that Brown is playing games and he's now got the Steelers painted into a corner.  His goal is to either force a trade to the team he wants or force the Steelers to cut him so he becomes a UFA.  Buffalo just was not on his shortlist.    

[John from Riverside]

I am actually glad they would not redo his contract that was just redone

 

he is making good money and beane being responsible

[BringBackOrton]

2 minutes ago, John from Riverside said:

I am actually glad they would not redo his contract that was just redone

 

he is making good money and beane being responsible

How did you feel when Whaley did that to Shady?

[Buffalo_Stampede]

Said it a few times, he would have come if the Bills paid him $20 million. I honestly thought they would do it because in the past they did these things. I'm very relieved they didn't do it. It's not the right time for it. 

Edited March 8, 2019 by TheTruthHurts

[BringBackOrton]

20 minutes ago, thurst44 said:

This is why I suspect it's more than AB simply "refusing" to come. I'd bet if that were the case there would be a blitz of players who love Buffalo trying to change his mind, or Beane would just give it a shot as there's such a long history of players who complain about coming to Buffalo (from Kelly to Shady) who now absolutely love it. 

Yeah like Gilmore, Darby, Jordan Matthews, Woods, Watkins, Hogan, Mario, Dareus, Byrd, Levitre, Maclin, Kiko, Goodwin etc etc etc.

 

League is just FILLED with dudes who love Buffalo.  Filled with them.

Edited March 8, 2019 by BringBackOrton

[ddaryl]

1 hour ago, Figster said:

One of the positives about filling your locker room with players of good character. Something I think McBeane regime has done a good job at so far. It allows you to trade for a player like AB and steer them in the right direction in my humble opinion.

 

 

 

IMO all it takes is one AB to destroy it all.. The locker room could do nothing to stop AB from being a douche to team via the media., See Pittsburgh

[BringBackOrton]

4 minutes ago, TheTruthHurts said:

Said it a few times, he would have come if the Bills paid him $20 million. I honestly thought they would do it because in the past they did these things. I'm very relieved they didn't do it. It's not the right time for it. 

Actually no.  You could easily time AB's contract to be up by the time Allen is up for a big money extension.   And you want Allen to earn that extension by giving him something other than CFL rejects and #5 WR's to throw to.

[Nervous Guy]

1 hour ago, GunnerBill said:

I think the way Brown looks at it if he is going to a team that is ready to compete he's take less money (none of them seem interested at this stage) he doesn't have to get top dollar. If he is going to a team rebuilding or about to rebuild (the Bills, Titans, Redskins and Raiders all fit into that category and you can make an argument that the Bills are furthest along) then he wants to be paid like the best receiver in the NFL. I don't think it is that unreasonable and from his perspective there is no urgency at this stage. The Steelers want a resolution so that they can put the whole charade to bed but any "deadline" is artificial. 

 

The Bills were clearly not willing to do what they did for Shady and put themselves on the hook for more money down the road and so talks broke down. 

 

I am not going to hate on Brown for his take on it this is a big decision about where he plays out his last years in the league. But equally I think the Bills set themselves sensible negotiating parameters. The frustrating thing is it leaking. If this had happened silently it is the kind of deal that often gets resurrected the closer the draft gets. The way it went down though I think that is a remote possibility happen now.  

What?  Mr. Big Chest doesn't feel that way..."Brown said that he’s really only interested in playing for guaranteed money.

“If your squad out there wanna win, and your squad want a hungry wide receiver who’s the best in the whole world, someone hit my phone up,” Brown said. “Tell ’em I ain’t doing no un-guarantees.

[thurst44]

7 minutes ago, BringBackOrton said:

Yeah like Gilmore, Darby, Jordan Matthews, Woods, Watkins, Hogan, Mario, Dareus, Byrd, Levitre, Maclin, Kiko, Goodwin etc etc etc.

 

League is just FILLED with dudes who love Buffalo.  Filled with them.

This doesn't even pass the basic sniff test of logic. Gilmore, and I guess Dareus to a degree (his comments felt a bit man-scorned), have popped off post being here, but most of these guys were traded and let go (and, for crying out loud, Maclin didn't even play here so he fits the original premise anyway).

 

Your better argument might have been Whitner and a couple others who have been vocal on Twitter, but mostly they were whipping boys and part of me does not blame them.

 

But let's just say that ALL the players you mentioned left Buffalo in a huff and have been bad mouthing their time here, the fact that some people did not like it here does not mean that many others do. 

 

But, by all means, self-loathe about the city. I have mixed feelings. I live in NYC. I've thought about coming back to WNY b/c of CoL and sense of community, but ultimately while I'm a Bills fan and lived in Buffalo for many years, NYC is still the home I chose. There are reasons players might not want to come to Buffalo, but you have to admit it's quite the football community, and to suggest that it's crazy to suggest that a lot of players come here and like it seems to be ignoring the evidence. It makes sense, come to Buffalo and do well and you're a God, everyone knows your name. Buffalo has a fanbase that has stuck by their team through 17 years of no playoffs and went crazy when they broke that streak. To players like Eric Wood, Kyle Williams, Jordan Phillips, that atmosphere can clearly be exhilarating.

[Buffalo_Stampede]

28 minutes ago, BringBackOrton said:

Actually no.  You could easily time AB's contract to be up by the time Allen is up for a big money extension.   And you want Allen to earn that extension by giving him something other than CFL rejects and #5 WR's to throw to.

You can upgrade WR still. What was your plan before the out of nowhere AB news hit? Do that. 

Edited March 8, 2019 by TheTruthHurts

[BringBackOrton]

1 minute ago, thurst44 said:

This doesn't even pass the basic sniff test of logic. Gilmore, and I guess Dareus to a degree (his comments felt a bit man-scorned), have popped off post being here, but most of these guys were traded and let go (and, for crying out loud, Maclin didn't even play here so he fits the original premise anyway).

 

Your better argument might have been Whitner and a couple others who have been vocal on Twitter, but mostly they were whipping boys and part of me does not blame them.

 

But let's just say that ALL the players you mentioned left Buffalo in a huff and have been bad mouthing their time here, the fact that some people did not like it here does not mean that many others do. 

 

But, by all means, self-loathe about the city. I have mixed feelings. I live in NYC. I've thought about coming back to WNY b/c of CoL and sense of community, but ultimately while I'm a Bills fan and lived in Buffalo for many years, NYC is still the home I chose. There are reasons players might not want to come to Buffalo, but you have to admit it's quite the football community, and to suggest that it's crazy to suggest that a lot of players come here and like it seems to be ignoring the evidence. It makes sense, come to Buffalo and do well and you're a God, everyone knows your name. Buffalo has a fanbase that has stuck by their team through 17 years of no playoffs and went crazy when they broke that streak. To players like Eric Wood, Kyle Williams, Jordan Phillips, that atmosphere can clearly be exhilarating.

It doesn't matter how they left, what matters is they left for greener pastures and they don't have nice things to say.  You know that players communicate OFF Twitter, right?

 

I'm sure Landon Collins is sitting at home right now saying "aw shucks, just because everyone I know says Buffalo sucks, I should still give it a shot! I mean, sure the guy who has nuked his own trade value just publicly embarrassed the city and organization, but whatever. Maybe I'll like it! I know a couple mediocre nobodies like the corpse of Shawn Merriman and Eric Wood who said it wasn't so bad."  LOL.

Just now, TheTruthHurts said:

You can upgrade WR still. What was your plan before the out of nowhere AB news hit? Do that. 

Who is as good as AB that you wanna get?

[HappyDays]

44 minutes ago, mannc said:

Yolo, no offense, but I'm calling BS on this story.  The Bills had to have had a very good idea how much Brown would be asking for before they opened up serious discussions with Pittsburgh

 

I don't think they could negotiate with his agent until Pittsburgh okayed it. So they had to agree to a trade in principle first. 

[BuffaloBillsGospel]

2 hours ago, Call_Of_Ktulu said:

If we got AB for a 2nd and a 4th rd pick I could see the Steelers being happy with that. 

 

I wouldn’t rate any WR from this draft as a 1st rd pick so I can understand why Beanie would rather trade for a proven WR. AB on the other hand is a nut case and we already have one of those at the WR position in Zay Jones. I think we dodged a bullet here because I think AB would’ve destroyed team chemistry and I think we would’ve signed him to a large contract and only got 

minimum effort.

 

One thing about AB since watching him from the beginning, the guy is a gamer, when playing he doesn't know what minimum effort is, when he is on that field he wants everyone to know he's the best player out there. He would have elevated Josh Allens play for sure but the drama could have gotten ugly if he wasn't getting the ball enough which I'm sure that's what you meant. It's a bummer I would have loved to see Brown finish his career here but oh well it's good to see Buffalo has standards that they're going to stick by also.

[Reed83HOF]

 

[Turk71]

So glad this fell through, good for Beane wanting to improve the team but this was a terrible idea imo. ***** this guy, keep building a team. Bills don't need primadonnas. Dodged a bullet. 

[John from Riverside]

40 minutes ago, BringBackOrton said:

How did you feel when Whaley did that to Shady?

I didnt like it...I was happy to get Shady but I didnt like that we had to juice up the pie in order to get him here.

 

It worked out in the end......I honestly dont think Shady has been the drama queen that this guy has been....that is just my opinion.

[BringBackOrton]

Just now, John from Riverside said:

I didnt like it...I was happy to get Shady but I didnt like that we had to juice up the pie in order to get him here.

 

It worked out in the end......I honestly dont think Shady has been the drama queen that this guy has been....that is just my opinion.

I mean, it might have worked out "in the end" with AB, so what does that mean, really?

[bigK14094]

The Bills don't need a problem child.  When TO was here, he was a pro....earllier years maybe not so much though.  (TO only here one year)  AB could have turned on Josh Allen in a heartbeat....and the Bills don't need that kind of situation with their new developing QB.  Let the Steelers and Raiders figure it out....the traditional home for bad boys,.

[John from Riverside]

1 minute ago, BringBackOrton said:

I mean, it might have worked out "in the end" with AB, so what does that mean, really?

Brown just has a different feel to him then Shady does.......I thought once he got to our team he was a true professional when it came to football.....Brown is leaving a GOOD OFFENSE with a winning culture and a Frachise QB....and is still complaining.

 

I totally would have accepted him here if he became a bill because.....well that is what I do

[HOUSE]

3 hours ago, DaBillsFanSince1973 said:

 

Me bad, this outrage got me upset, the first thing to go is spelling

[Figster]

50 minutes ago, ddaryl said:

 

IMO all it takes is one AB to destroy it all.. The locker room could do nothing to stop AB from being a douche to team via the media., See Pittsburgh

I'm not saying it couldn't happen. On the other hand McD runs a tight ship IMO. 

 

Myself personally, some coaches can handle high maintenance players (emotionally) like AB and some can't.  McD's one of the ones that can IMO.

 

Both Bell and Brown, two of the best players at their position in the NFL. Both doing everything they can to never play for the steelers again. Ever think the problem might be somewhere else within the organization? Like HC Tomlin for instance?

Edited March 8, 2019 by Figster

[Aussie Joe]

Mr Big Checks...

 

[BringBackOrton]

1 minute ago, John from Riverside said:

Brown just has a different feel to him then Shady does.......I thought once he got to our team he was a true professional when it came to football.....Brown is leaving a GOOD OFFENSE with a winning culture and a Frachise QB....and is still complaining.

 

I totally would have accepted him here if he became a bill because.....well that is what I do

LOL that's why you're one in a million.

[Spiderweb]

I for one surely hope that a deal for Brown is dead, dead to the core. I think he's a world class talent but age is not on his side and he just seems like a totally immature spoiled brat. Walk, no .. run away from him as fast as possible. Pure poison. 

[YoloinOhio]

 

[atlbillsfan1975]

Chris Landry a long time NFL scout has a weekly spot here in Atlanta on a radio station. Landry basically said exactly what is happening a few weeks back. Teams just don’t want to give up picks and then have to work out a new deal like Brown is a FA. Brown’s age and personality also get factored in for sure. Kudos to Beane for taking a swing at it. Beane knows about Brown much more than I do. I am sure before Beane engaged in talks he had done some background on what Brown is really like. 

Brown is a tremendous talent no question about it. I had very mixed emotions when I first heard the news Brown could be coming to the Bills. I am going to put this scenario  in the category of things happening(or not happening) for a reason. 

[whatdrought]

1 minute ago, YoloinOhio said:

 

 

man ***** that guy.

 

I hope he gets too close to the razor when trimming that nasty ass mustache and cuts his face and can never be seen in public without that elephant costume for fear of embarrassment.