The Oakland Raiders pulled off their first huge move of the offseason, trading for former Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver Antonio Brown.
The Oakland Raiders traded for one of the biggest names in football on Saturday night, as they received star Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver Antonio Brown. Brown wore out his welcome in the Steel City towards the end of last season, and it became clear the two sides needed to part ways after the regular season.
In Brown, the Raiders will be getting a guy who has been highly productive during his career, and is widely regarded as one of the best wide receivers in the game. Brown has the ability to take the lid off the defense, and will be adding a dimension to this Raiders offense that Raider Nation has not seen in years.
The big question was what would the Raiders give up for Brown, and it appears they made quite the deal. According to Ian Rapoport of the NFL Network, the Raiders will send a third and fifth round pick, both in 2019 to the Steelers for Brown’s services.
Oakland also had to rework his current deal.
Contract details for new #Steelers WR Antonio Brown: 3 years, $50.125M, source said. Max value is 54.125M. He gets $30.125M guaranteed, more than the $0 he preciously had. The contract was he biggest hurdle.
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) March 10, 2019
In Brown, the Raiders now have an elite wide receiver, and it will be up to Derek Carr to make this thing work. Brown wore out his welcome, and his relationship with Ben Roethlisberger in Pittsburgh, but he has always had good things to say about Carr, who is entering his sixth season as the Raiders starting quarterback.
The trade will not be official until the new league year this Wednesday.
The Raiders went into this offseason with Jordy Nelson atop their depth chart, and very little else outside of guys like Marcell Ateman and Seth Roberts at the wide receiver spot. Brown is a future Hall of Famer, but the real question is whether he can bring the right attitude to the Raiders, who are taking a big chance on him.