Antonio Brown trade may be happening today, announcing team soon: UPDATE: TRADED to Raiders

[eball]

1 minute ago, NoSaint said:

 

Why’d he even start the talks then?

 

Due diligence.  How much worse would you feel if you believed Beane never even inquired?

[YoloinOhio]

11 minutes ago, The Senator said:

 

Am watching Carruci on Sports Talk right now.  According to Vic, talks btwn Bills & Steelers began Tuesday and went on thru Thursday, at watch point Beane walked away because he didn’t feel comfortable with Brown’s contract demands.  After talks fell apart, Rappaport erroneously reported that a deal was imminent - he apparently wanted to be first, rather than right.  Beane would have preferred to keep it quiet, but Rappaport blew it.

 

Beane didn’t feel comfortable with the money demands because we’ve got a bunch of good young players here and, you bring in a guy like AB for all that money, the young guys are going to see his “me first” attitude and start acting the same way.  Essentially, Brown would be a cancer in the locker room.

 

Makes perfect sense to me.

 

Brown never said he wouldn’t report to Buffalo.  That was just more speculation and bad reporting.  If his contract demands were met, he would have reported on time, probably with a cup of Tim Horton’s in his hand, and had wings for lunch.

 

 I’m still glad he went with the Raiders.

.

Imo it was a deal they maybe would have done if the risk was lower on the guaranteed money. The probably wanted to give it a chance given his talent and give him the benefit of the doubt that maybe it was the environment in Pittsburgh that was the catalyst and he could be ok here... but so much risk involved with his recent behavior.  Giving that much money to him on the surface is ok - it’s the other stuff, the reason the Steelers and anyone else wouldn’t give it to him - that was the issue with the guaranteed money. The ESPN reporter from Pittsburgh said the team truly. believes that he’s become unstable. He may be worth taking a risk on but it has to be a calculated risk. 

Edited March 10, 2019 by YoloinOhio

[NoSaint]

Just now, oldmanfan said:

Because it's his job

But if he knew brown would wreck the locker room why engage, talk contract and disengage. It seems there’s some storyline being created that may be slightly overstepping 

[YoloinOhio]

1 minute ago, NoSaint said:

But if he knew brown would wreck the locker room why engage, talk contract and disengage. It seems there’s some storyline being created that may be slightly overstepping 

I don’t think knew that for sure ... he didn’t want to take all the media stuff at face value and and wanted to talk to him about the situation first and then decide if it was worth the risk, but based on the post-Mortem articles from Breer and Carucci it never got that far.

[The Senator]

11 minutes ago, NoSaint said:

 

How much extra money was the tipping point for losing the locker room? Like beane could guarantee 1.33 years and add 2m per but if he did 1.75 years and 4m extra the young guys would get the wrong message?

 

heck, it’s basically Sammy Watkins contract. On some level if you want a passing game we are going to have to get used to seeing big numbers for guys that may have some warts on their resume. 

 

I tried to summarize what Carruci said, but there was more.  There was a kind of ‘see-saw’ thing going on - in which, the higher Brown’s demands, the less the Bills were willing to give the Steelers.

 

I think Brown’s character was also considered - the whole quitting on the team during a playoff race, complaining about not getting the ball, throwing his QB ‘under the bus’, etc.

 

As Beane commented, in the end the deal just didn’t make sense for either team.

.

Edited March 10, 2019 by The Senator

[YoloinOhio]

3 minutes ago, The Senator said:

 

I tried to summarize what Carruci said, but there was more.  There was a kind of ‘see-saw thing going on - in which, the higher Brown’s demands, the less the Bills were willing to give the Steelers.

 

I think Brown’s character was also considered - the whole quitting on the team during a playoff race, complaining about not getting the ball, throwing his QB ‘under the bus’, etc.

 

As Beane commented, in the end the deal just didn’t make sense for either team.

.

The bottom line is that they kicked the tires on acquiring him but moved on. As did Redskins, Titans, saints, eagles and maybe others. Many times you never hear about the trades that don’t go through. In this case it was such a huge storyline someone pulled the trigger too quickly on telling rapaport and it got put out there.  You never heard a peep from Schefter the whole time rapaport was out there talking about it and the local guys reported it wasn’t even close. 

Edited March 10, 2019 by YoloinOhio

[Buffalo_Gal]

8 hours ago, John from Riverside said:

I have been to Vegas a bunch......and I know ppl that live there.

 

People who  live in Vegas live there for work purposes (in my experience) it is not a retirement type place.......and as you said it is out in the middle of the desert.   The tax situation is legit as another has posted.....but they dont even know if Vegas will even support a NFL team when a place like Los Angeles actually had trouble in the past.

 

The Raiders are in turmoil......and Brown will never win there but if it just to get his paycheck then he has accomplished that.

 

Buffalo's team situation is much better......our D is good and we just need to fix our O

Vegas is a huge retirement place, actually. Go out toward Summerlin. When my MIL (& step-FIL) moved there over 20 years ago, it was because there was a large retirement-age crowd - the lack of humidity was great for aging joints (the humidity in the summer has crawled up due to all the pools and people, but in the winter there is still almost no humidity). 

I will say it has gotten insane there in the last 15+ years traffic-wise. The housing crash settled things down a bit, but the last few years people have moved there in droves. Why? No idea. The desert does not appeal to me, the weather absolutely sucks, and at some point, the water runs out, but a lot of people absolutely love it. 

Will Vegas support an NFL team? Right now the general population is hyped up about it. When the team has a shiny new feel to it I think it will do well. If the team falters and delivers a few sucky seasons? All bets are off. 

Edited March 10, 2019 by Buffalo_Gal

[vorpma]

30 minutes ago, The Senator said:

 

Am watching Carruci on Sports Talk right now.  According to Vic, talks btwn Bills & Steelers began Tuesday and went on thru Thursday, at watch point Beane walked away because he didn’t feel comfortable with Brown’s contract demands.  After talks fell apart, Rappaport erroneously reported that a deal was imminent - he apparently wanted to be first, rather than right.  Beane would have preferred to keep it quiet, but Rappaport blew it.

 

Beane didn’t feel comfortable with the money demands because we’ve got a bunch of good young players here and, you bring in a guy like AB for all that money, the young guys are going to see his “me first” attitude and start acting the same way.  Essentially, Brown would be a cancer in the locker room.

 

Makes perfect sense to me.

 

Brown never said he wouldn’t report to Buffalo.  That was just more speculation and bad reporting.  If his contract demands were met, he would have reported on time, probably with a cup of Tim Horton’s in his hand, and had wings for lunch.

 

 I’m still glad he went with the Raiders.

.

Thank you for this post - finally some fact instead of the "hate McBeane" crowd spewing HS!

[oldmanfan]

23 minutes ago, NoSaint said:

But if he knew brown would wreck the locker room why engage, talk contract and disengage. It seems there’s some storyline being created that may be slightly overstepping 

Because they knew he had a reputation as a hard worker and to talk to him and figure out if it worked you have to start the process.

 

This is what GMs should do.  People need to quit acting crazy about a GM doing his job.

[MAJBobby]

1 hour ago, freddyjj said:

With AB Steelers won no Super Bowls and appeared in only one., 2010 rookie season.  This with a future HOFer at QB and one of best runners in NFL.  

 

So unclear to me how A B could save Bills or Raiders 

 

So let’s see would AB improved a Historically BAD offense last year. Easy answer is yes. 

 

So so now tell me how they are “Better” without him right now again?

[vorpma]

33 minutes ago, NoSaint said:

 

How much extra money was the tipping point for losing the locker room? Like beane could guarantee 1.33 years and add 2m per but if he did 1.75 years and 4m extra the young guys would get the wrong message?

 

heck, it’s basically Sammy Watkins contract. On some level if you want a passing game we are going to have to get used to seeing big numbers for guys that may have some warts on their resume. 

 

Why’d he even start the talks then?

Why not!!!!

[Buffalo Bills Fan]

I'm willing to let this go as well. The bigger question is on Beane and McDermott on how he is going to make this team good again. That is the  question and waiting answer for now.

Edited March 10, 2019 by Buffalo Bills Fan

[vorpma]

4 minutes ago, MAJBobby said:

 

So let’s see would AB improved a Historically BAD offense last year. Easy answer is yes. 

 

So so now tell me how they are “Better” without him right now again?

They are better in the long term without him; I lost no sleep not getting AB, try Sominex!

6 minutes ago, oldmanfan said:

Because they knew he had a reputation as a hard worker and to talk to him and figure out if it worked you have to start the process.

 

This is what GMs should do.  People need to quit acting crazy about a GM doing his job.

This board gets nuttier by the hour!

1 minute ago, Buffalo Bills Fan said:

I'm willing to let this go as well. The bigger question is on Beane and McDermott on how he is going to make this team good again. That is the  question and waiting answer for now.

Probably not going to happen in the next five minutes as you prefer so no happy meal for now; but I have confidence this team is moving in the right direction.  Good luck to AB! Now let's get back to building a winning organization!

[oldmanfan]

4 minutes ago, Buffalo Bills Fan said:

I'm willing to let this go as well. The bigger question is on Beane and McDermott on how he is going to make this team good again. That is the  question and waiting answer for now.

They are going to make the best decisions they can make on players and coaches.  They make the right ones they'll be successful and if not the next group will get their shot.  

[Buffalo Bills Fan]

5 minutes ago, vorpma said:

They are better in the long term without him; I lost no sleep not getting AB, try Sominex!

This board gets nuttier by the hour!

Probably not going to happen in the next five minutes as you prefer so no happy meal for now; but I have confidence this team is moving in the right direction.  Good luck to AB! Now let's get back to building a winning organization!

 

I know not next 5 minutes. Just saying future thing to look at. Progress. Key word.

[vorpma]

Just now, Buffalo Bills Fan said:

 

I know not next 5 minutes. Just saying future thing to look at. Progress. Key word.

OK, now we are talking, I could not agree more; progress is needed in 2019. But throwing big money at fading superstars is not the solution! 

[MAJBobby]

26 minutes ago, vorpma said:

They are better in the long term without him; I lost no sleep not getting AB, try Sominex!

This board gets nuttier by the hour!

Probably not going to happen in the next five minutes as you prefer so no happy meal for now; but I have confidence this team is moving in the right direction.  Good luck to AB! Now let's get back to building a winning organization!

 

Explain how they are better in the long term without him?

 

now also explain to me how you have confidence in this Offense moving in the right direction. Because it has regressed in two years of this regime. 

 

 

Funny thing Unlike the Fans that think we are better without him. BRANDON BEANE didn’t think so. 

Edited March 10, 2019 by MAJBobby

[eball]

50 minutes ago, YoloinOhio said:

The bottom line is that they kicked the tires on acquiring him but moved on. As did Redskins, Titans, saints, eagles and maybe others. Many times you never hear about the trades that don’t go through. In this case it was such a huge storyline someone pulled the trigger too quickly on telling rapaport and it got put out there.  You never heard a peep from Schefter the whole time rapaport was out there talking about it and the local guys reported it wasn’t even close. 

 

Yep.  I realize the knee-jerk reaction for a lot of Bills fans is to assume the Bills "got played" and AB "didn't want to come to Buffalo" but what it looks like to me is that our GM took a very measured, thoughtful approach to inquiring about a talent like AB and there were many factors that played into why they didn't pull the trigger.

[Buffalo Bills Fan]

3 minutes ago, MAJBobby said:

 

Explain how they are better in the long term without him?

 

now also explain to me how you have confidence in this Offense moving in the right direction. Because it has regressed in two years of this regime. 

 

 

Funny thing Unlike the Fans that think we are better without him. BRANDON BEANE didn’t think so. 

 

I didn't say better without him. I'm more interested in Beane's and McDermott plan going forward. That process well see in the future,

[YoloinOhio]

[vorpma]

2 minutes ago, MAJBobby said:

 

Explain how they are better in the long term without him?

 

now also explain to me how you have confidence in this Offense moving in the right direction. Because it has regressed in two years of this regime. 

 

 

Funny thing Unlike the Fans that think we are better without him. BRANDON BEANE didn’t think so. 

Pay a troubled super star for short term gain - maybe 10 years ago and he would fill seats but we would still be a mediocre team and every August gullible fans would cry this is the year. I applaud Beane for doing due diligence but also applaud that he stepped away! Building a winning organization with character, most of us have the patience! 

[MAJBobby]

Just now, vorpma said:

Pay a troubled super star for short term gain - maybe 10 years ago and he would fill seats but we would still be a mediocre team and every August gullible fans would cry this is the year. I applaud Beane for doing due diligence but also applaud that he stepped away! Building a winning organization with character, most of us have the patience! 

 

Facts are the Offense would be better with him on the team.  And even at his age still producing at the best WR level. 

 

Now if you want to argue about the new contract fine you won’t find an argument from me, because I wanted AB as long as it didn’t come with new money. 

 

But to say he would not have improved the offense that has regressed and was historically bad last year is just naive and ill-informed. 

[vorpma]

1 minute ago, MAJBobby said:

 

Facts are the Offense would be better with him on the team.  And even at his age still producing at the best WR level. 

 

Now if you want to argue about the new contract fine you won’t find an argument from me, because I wanted AB as long as it didn’t come with new money. 

 

But to say he would not have improved the offense that has regressed and was historically bad last year is just naive and ill-informed. 

Fair enough, we are in agreement!

[Figster]

4 minutes ago, vorpma said:

Pay a troubled super star for short term gain - maybe 10 years ago and he would fill seats but we would still be a mediocre team and every August gullible fans would cry this is the year. I applaud Beane for doing due diligence but also applaud that he stepped away! Building a winning organization with character, most of us have the patience! 

I don't buy the we would still be mediocre part, but I do applaud the McBeane regime for having the confidence to take on a player like AB in part because of the work they have done building up good character to this point in the Bills locker room.  

[vorpma]

1 minute ago, Figster said:

I don't buy the we would still be mediocre part, but I do applaud the McBeane regime for having the confidence to take on a player like AB in part because of the work they have done building up good character to this point in the Bills locker room.  

Good post, but I have watched teams for years, including the Bills, pay superstars that fill stadiums nut just can't reach the playoff threshold.  I want a dominant team for a decade, a team always in the playoff hunt, a perennial winner; not a season or two of arena football!

[Pine Barrens Mafia]

26 minutes ago, YoloinOhio said:

Savage

[Gugny]

2 hours ago, Mr. WEO said:

 

Why is the guaranteed money such a big deal (or "stupid")?  This is essentially the same deal Sammy Watkins got....and Watkins ain't no AB, to put it very kindly.

 

OBJ is getting 65 million guaranteed on a 5 year 90 million deal!  Mike Evans 55 million guaranteed on an 82 million deal. 

 

This Bills are paying Latooleeoooleee 50 million with 25 million guaranteed.  Granted it's over 5 year, but it's also for a zero impact player.

 

Guaranteed money isn't stupid, it's part of the deal.  Standard stuff.  As a % of his total contract, AB's guarantee is the lowest of that group.

 

 

 

It was stupid with Watkins, too.  And OBJ isn't 31 years old.

[mannc]

2 hours ago, Juice_32 said:

 

Please list in alphabetical order receivers (must be diva/locker room cancers too) have been worth 17m per year past age 30. I’ll wait......no sour grapes here pard. I’m just genuinely glad they didn’t make this move. 

 

Pay your QB, OL and pass rushers. You can’t sustain a team paying an aging WR 54 million. 

Absurd.  There have been plenty of highly productive WRs over 30 recently: Larry Fitz, AJ Green, Julio Jones...oh, wait, a 32 year old WR just won the Super Bowl MVP!  Brown’s really has no drop off since turning 30. It’s ridiculous to assume he won’t be really good for at least 2 more years.

 

And if you’re still arguing that WR is a “complementary” position, then the NFL passed you by a long time ago.   

 

[ngbills]

1 hour ago, The Senator said:

 

Beane didn’t feel comfortable with the money demands because we’ve got a bunch of good young players here and, you bring in a guy like AB for all that money, the young guys are going to see his “me first” attitude and start acting the same way. 

.

 

That is absurd on multiple levels. 

 

1. Beane knew from the start AB would want big money. You don’t need to get in the trade talks to find that out. 

2. Players like to see guys get paid. That is a unifying front for them. The bills players would have loved to get AB in their team. 

3.  Don’t pay for stars because we have young guys that will get upset? Let’s be a team of guys on rookie contracts and be a 4-7 win team forever. 

 

[BADOLBILZ]

27 minutes ago, MAJBobby said:

 

Facts are the Offense would be better with him on the team.  And even at his age still producing at the best WR level. 

 

Now if you want to argue about the new contract fine you won’t find an argument from me, because I wanted AB as long as it didn’t come with new money. 

 

But to say he would not have improved the offense that has regressed and was historically bad last year is just naive and ill-informed. 

 

 

Any trade was going to require new money.    AB had made that clear weeks ago.

 

The lesson teams should learn from this is that front loading all of the guarantees in this contract is what set the stage for AB to double dip on his contract and the Steelers to get hosed.

 

If you have a hard working, healthy superstar player you need to create more incentive for them to stay the course.

 

That may mean shorter, fully guaranteed deals for superstar players.

 

[/dev/null]

38 minutes ago, YoloinOhio said:

 

 

I won't wish injury upon any player, be it Derek Carr or even Marsha Brady, but it would be karmic for Antonio Brown to spend a few games with Nathan Peterman while Juju Smith-Schuster is lighting up the scoreboard with Ben Roethlesberger

[Real McClappy]

Good, this nonsense is over. 

 

Now take the 16-17 mill a season we would have spent on AB and get 2 stud O-lineman, then with the draft picks saved get some WR's whom will last longer than 3 years and develop with Allen.

 

So glad this fell through.

Edited March 10, 2019 by Real McCoy

[buffaloboyinATL]

This will be interesting to see.  Amari Cooper looked much better once he left the Raiders. I am curious how much of a drop off, if any, Brown will have there.

Edited March 10, 2019 by buffaloboyinATL

[dezertbill]

My take is the Raiders were working with the Raiders and Bills, among others for a deal.

 

IMO the Bills offered greater than the 3rd and 5th the Raiders paid.  The Steelers wanted to take the Bills deal, but Brown stated he wouldn't play in Buffalo.

 

So the Steelers used Rap Sheet to put out a report that Brown was on the verge of getting traded to Buffalo in order for the Raiders to raise their offer, even though the Steelers and Bills had known at that point that Brown wouldn't go to Buffalo. 

 

It ended up blowing up in their face.  Within a few hours Brown reacted with Fake news.  Beane said there were "positive talks" but no deal could be reached, most likely cuz Brown didn't want to play in Buffalo.  So they had a small window to try and ramp up the Raiders offer, and it didn't work.  So they settled for a 3rd and 5th, since at that point the Raiders were most likely bidding against themselves.  

[billspro]

1 hour ago, MAJBobby said:

 

Explain how they are better in the long term without him?

 

now also explain to me how you have confidence in this Offense moving in the right direction. Because it has regressed in two years of this regime. 

 

 

Funny thing Unlike the Fans that think we are better without him. BRANDON BEANE didn’t think so. 

 

Brandon Beane didn’t want to pay that contact imo. Brown probably didn’t want to come here either. Flashy moves like that have a very low success rate. This team will still be set up for the playoffs this year without Brown. Just be patient it is going to be a good offseason. 

[ngbills]

21 minutes ago, Real McCoy said:

Good, this nonsense is over. 

 

Now take the 16-17 mill a season we would have spent on AB and get 2 stud O-lineman, then with the draft picks saved get some WR's whom will last longer than 3 years and develop with Allen.

 

So glad this fell through.

This would be the perfect time to pay a WR $16-17M for 3 years. We have a QB on his rookie deal so have the space. Develop a young WR and let AB walk in 3 years. In a few years if Allen pans out he is getting $20M+ per and then you will have a hard time paying a WR. 

[billspro]

19 minutes ago, buffaloboyinATL said:

This will be interesting to see.  Amari Cooper looked much better once he left the Raiders. I am curious how much of a drop off, of any, Brown will have there.

 

My guess is he end up with around a 1000 yards, he is going to have a drop off for sure.

[The Senator]

23 minutes ago, ngbills said:

 

That is absurd on multiple levels. 

 

1. Beane knew from the start AB would want big money. You don’t need to get in the trade talks to find that out. 

2. Players like to see guys get paid. That is a unifying front for them. The bills players would have loved to get AB in their team. 

3.  Don’t pay for stars because we have young guys that will get upset? Let’s be a team of guys on rookie contracts and be a 4-7 win team forever. 

 

 

So Beane should not have even kicked the tires to establish the parameters of a possible trade?  

 

Now THAT’S truly absurd!

 

He never wanted it in the media, because he knew this nonsense would ensue - but Rappaport cared more about breaking the story first than getting the story right.

 

Why don’t you wait and see what else Beane does on the trade and Free Agency fronts?  He may surprise you with some super talent of high character.

.

 

 

[Doc]

1 hour ago, MAJBobby said:

Explain how they are better in the long term without him?

 

now also explain to me how you have confidence in this Offense moving in the right direction. Because it has regressed in two years of this regime. 

 

 

Funny thing Unlike the Fans that think we are better without him. BRANDON BEANE didn’t think so. 

 

We can't predict the future so we don't know if the Bills are better long term without him.  But they're not worse: they're just the same.  IMHO if they had added him, he'd have been a locker room cancer

 

What they need to do is build up the OL, draft a WR, and develop their own Antonio Brown: Robert Foster.

 

13 minutes ago, buffaloboyinATL said:

This will be interesting to see.  Amari Cooper looked much better once he left the Raiders. I am curious how much of a drop off, of any, Brown will have there.

 

Yeah, his Dallas stats extrapolated over a full season are 1,288 yards and 11 TDs.

[MAJBobby]

6 minutes ago, billspro said:

 

Brandon Beane didn’t want to pay that contact imo. Brown probably didn’t want to come here either. Flashy moves like that have a very low success rate. This team will still be set up for the playoffs this year without Brown. Just be patient it is going to be a good offseason. 

 

Really But Beane did try and trade for him. I get that he might not have wanted to deal

out the contract. But DID try to trade for him. Meaning our GM obviously thinks he is needed at a certain value.