Antonio Brown has gotten his wish to leave the Pittsburgh Steelers, who have agreed to trade the perennial all-pro to the Oakland Raiders for a third- and a fifth-round draft pick.
Per NFL Network, Brown will receive a reworked contract that covers three years and pays $50.1 million (with a maximum value of $54.1 million) with $30.1 million of it guaranteed.
Brown’s nine-year tenure in the Steel City, where he was a seven-time Pro Bowler and finishes as the second-most prolific receiver in Steelers history (in terms of catches, yards, and touchdowns) behind Hines Ward is over.
Despite a reputation as a tireless worker, Brown had worn out his welcome by the end of 2018, which ended with him deactivated for a must-win game in the regular-season finale.
By that point, it was clear that Brown wanted out. He openly lobbied for a move through traditional and social media, expressing his unhappiness while characterizing his relationship with quarterback Ben Roethlisberger and the organization that drafted him in the sixth round in 2010 as “broken.”
But late Saturday night, Brown tweeted a picture of himself wearing Oakland’s iconic Black & Silver and issued a second post of himself and Raiders quarterback Derek Carr when they were teammates on the AFC Pro Bowl squad.
Now Brown heads to Oakland for one year, and will then follow the Raiders to Las Vegas in 2020.
According to ESPN and many sports insiders, Brown and the Raiders are definitely being declared the winners in this trade, even though it won’t become official until the new league year begins on Wednesday.
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