Is A.B. Trolling the NFL?

[BluHorzhu]

While emotional, I don't take Antonio Brown to be a stupid man.  He knows full well what shooting his mouth off and posting Tweets/messages has done to his team's leverage in trade negotiations.  The question has to be asked:  Has he already decided that he's done with football and is just having fun with the entire league?  Is it the big F.U. to the traditional ownership power structures that exist?  

 

I really don't mind him saying that he doesn't need to play, but wants it.  However, that also means he's trying to treat teams/owners like he's in charge at an unprecedented level.  Either he's going to get a max bid Golden Egg contract with the right team of his choice or he'll simply bounce.  Based on the way everything has unfolded to date, that's my educated guess.  So far my prediction is that there's no takers and he retires... only to unretire a year later and sign with a contender.

 

Time is running out on a deal, so if you'd like to weigh in on some A.B. theory... smoke 'em if ya got 'em!

[krunk]

When it's all said and done he's still going to get what he wants from one of these teams.

[Restinpeacesweetchloe]

Looks like another deal might be done. AB said to watch his twitter for the anouncement. I still think it is the raiders. With the bills backing out they may not have to give up as much.

[BluHorzhu]

36 minutes ago, Chloe6124 said:

Looks like another deal might be done. AB said to watch his twitter for the anouncement. I still think it is the raiders. With the bills backing out they may not have to give up as much.

 

I think it's the Raiders, too... the team with the most firepower between picks and purse.  They're getting ready for a new look in a new stadium in a new city.  Brown will fit in nicely with that big splash narrative.

[King Colt]

Miami is releasing Amendola ..to make room for AB? Wherever AB goes there will be trouble. 

[crazycolt1]

1 hour ago, Chloe6124 said:

Looks like another deal might be done. AB said to watch his twitter for the anouncement. I still think it is the raiders. With the bills backing out they may not have to give up as much.

 

59 minutes ago, BluHorzhu said:

 

I think it's the Raiders, too... the team with the most firepower between picks and purse.  They're getting ready for a new look in a new stadium in a new city.  Brown will fit in nicely with that big splash narrative.

ABs ego vs Gruden's ego=high drama.

[Lucky Colts Fan]

12 minutes ago, crazycolt1 said:

ABs ego vs Gruden's ego=high drama.

 

Raiders on Hard Knocks = must-see TV! 

[MFT5]

2 hours ago, krunk said:

When it's all said and done he's still going to get what he wants from one of these teams.

 

Facts

[BluHorzhu]

13 hours ago, crazycolt1 said:

 

ABs ego vs Gruden's ego=high drama.

 

"Get'cha Popcorn!"

-Terrell 'I invented modern drama' Owens

[pacolts56]

16 hours ago, BluHorzhu said:

While emotional, I don't take Antonio Brown to be a stupid man.  He knows full well what shooting his mouth off and posting Tweets/messages has done to his team's leverage in trade negotiations.  The question has to be asked:  Has he already decided that he's done with football and is just having fun with the entire league?  Is it the big F.U. to the traditional ownership power structures that exist?  

 

I really don't mind him saying that he doesn't need to play, but wants it.  However, that also means he's trying to treat teams/owners like he's in charge at an unprecedented level.  Either he's going to get a max bid Golden Egg contract with the right team of his choice or he'll simply bounce.  Based on the way everything has unfolded to date, that's my educated guess.  So far my prediction is that there's no takers and he retires... only to unretire a year later and sign with a contender.

 

Time is running out on a deal, so if you'd like to weigh in on some A.B. theory... smoke 'em if ya got 'em!

Someone will sign him....and with 2-3 years of high production likely... he’ll get paid... and he knows it.

 

From a pure talent standpoint I hope he’s dealt to an NFC team.

 

If he does stay in the AFC.... hopefully his weeping and wailing and gnashing of teeth poisons the locker room of one of our rivals. 

[nburgmei]

It really is interesting. He seems to have found a way, as a player, to steal almost all of the leverage in his trade talks. He has forced the Steelers to either pay him a load of money or trade him. He's derailing trades to teams he doesn't like through threats of retirement.

 

He's either getting paid by the Steelers, getting paid a mountain of money by another team (maybe a crappy team), or getting traded to a team he really wants. 

 

I don't necessarily like all of his antics, but it is a little fun to see him stick it to the Steelers.

[crazycolt1]

2 hours ago, nburgmei said:

It really is interesting. He seems to have found a way, as a player, to steal almost all of the leverage in his trade talks. He has forced the Steelers to either pay him a load of money or trade him. He's derailing trades to teams he doesn't like through threats of retirement.

 

He's either getting paid by the Steelers, getting paid a mountain of money by another team (maybe a crappy team), or getting traded to a team he really wants. 

 

I don't necessarily like all of his antics, but it is a little fun to see him stick it to the Steelers.

As much as I dislike the Steelers I don't like a player taking the attitude he has taken.

I kind of pass some of the blame on Tomlin. He overlooked ABs issues just because of ABs talent. Tomlin should have sit him down for a few games earlier when AB took the attitude he was the franchise.

Any player who takes the attitude of he makes his own rules has no place on a team no matter his talent level IMO.

[2006Coltsbestever]

Since when does a player get say so on where they are traded? Pittsburgh has to do what is best for them. Brown has 0 say in reality. If Pitt wants to trade Brown to Timbuktu there isn't anything realistically he can do about it rules wise except retire.

 

Also why would Pitt trade him to a contender, that would be dumb. Lets help the Patriots out for example 

[Restinpeacesweetchloe]

15 minutes ago, 2006Coltsbestever said:

Since when does a player get say so on where they are traded? Pittsburgh has to do what is best for them. Brown has 0 say in reality. If Pitt wants to trade Brown to Timbuktu there isn't anything realistically he can do about it rules wise except retire.

 

Also why would Pitt trade him to a contender, that would be dumb. Lets help the Patriots out for example 

Because all he has to do is say he isn’t going to show up and the deal won’t happen. No team is going to finalize a deal until they know he will show up. The Steelers actually have no leverage in this situation.

[2006Coltsbestever]

10 minutes ago, Chloe6124 said:

Because all he has to do is say he isn’t going to show up and the deal won’t happen. No team is going to finalize a deal until they know he will show up. The Steelers actually have no leverage in this situation.

You know what I would do then, not trade him and just bench him (watch him be miserable) if he refused to go somewhere. If he retires oh well. You didn't think of that one did you . Pitt has plenty of leverage, he is under contract.

[Restinpeacesweetchloe]

12 minutes ago, 2006Coltsbestever said:

You know what I would do then, not trade him and just bench him (watch him be miserable) if he refused to go somewhere. If he retires oh well. You didn't think of that one did you . Pitt has plenty of leverage, he is under contract.

I did see some speculAtion that all parties could sit down and come to a understanding  and he could stay in Pittsburgh. I think the Steelers need to unload some of his cap space so just not trading him and benching him is probably not a option.  If he retires though then I guess they wouldn’t have to pay him.

[2006Coltsbestever]

1 minute ago, Chloe6124 said:

I did see some speculAtion that all parties could sit down and come to a understanding  and he could stay in Pittsburgh. I think the Steelers need to unload some of his cap space so just not trading him and benching him is probably not a option.  If he retires though then I guess they wouldn’t have to pay him.

Definitely interesting stuff. We will soon find out what happens.

[Four2itus]

1 hour ago, crazycolt1 said:

As much as I dislike the Steelers I don't like a player taking the attitude he has taken.

I kind of pass some of the blame on Tomlin. He overlooked ABs issues just because of ABs talent. Tomlin should have sit him down for a few games earlier when AB took the attitude he was the franchise.

Any player who takes the attitude of he makes his own rules has no place on a team no matter his talent level IMO.

I agree with most of your thoughts, but I would say blame starts with Tomlin allowing Ben to control things. Benching Brown (who I have no respect for), would just continue to enable Ben to be the * he is. 

[nburgmei]

1 hour ago, crazycolt1 said:

As much as I dislike the Steelers I don't like a player taking the attitude he has taken.

I kind of pass some of the blame on Tomlin. He overlooked ABs issues just because of ABs talent. Tomlin should have sit him down for a few games earlier when AB took the attitude he was the franchise.

Any player who takes the attitude of he makes his own rules has no place on a team no matter his talent level IMO.

 

31 minutes ago, Four2itus said:

I agree with most of your thoughts, but I would say blame starts with Tomlin allowing Ben to control things. Benching Brown (who I have no respect for), would just continue to enable Ben to be the * he is. 

I agree with both of these. Tomlin should have controlled this early on with both Ben and Brown.  Brown is the one taking all of the public flak here because he's been immature, but he's never really been cited as a bad teammate (with one exception that I'm aware of). Most teammates say he's pretty good to be around and works hard. I suspect if Tomlin had addressed the Ben issue early this wouldn't have gotten to this point. It's pretty rare for players on winning teams to be at each others throats this much barring something pretty egregious.

[SilentHill]

5 hours ago, 2006Coltsbestever said:

You know what I would do then, not trade him and just bench him (watch him be miserable) if he refused to go somewhere. If he retires oh well. You didn't think of that one did you . Pitt has plenty of leverage, he is under contract.

 

That leverage is a double edged sword. The Steelers learned the hard way last year when they had Leveon Bell's salary tied up in the franchise tag and then he didn't play. Don't you think they wish they had that money to spend on someone who would have contributed to the team? Letting AB's contract sit on the books is a serious handicap. It essentially gives all the power to star players.

[Restinpeacesweetchloe]

Looks like AB is asking for about 18 to 20m. I wonder how many years. If it is say a two year contract I  think it is ok. But if he is  asking for a long term one any team would be crazy to do that.

[jvan1973]

5 minutes ago, Chloe6124 said:

Looks like AB is asking for about 18 to 20m. I wonder how many years. If it is say a two year contract I  think it is ok. But if he is  asking for a long term one any team would be crazy to do that.

He isn't wanting a 2 year deal.   Get real.  He is the best WR in the league. 

[TomDiggs]

I think the one thing AB has going for him leverage-wise is that Pitt just saw what it was like going through drama w Bell last year.

 

The constant questions weekly of "will he report this week?" "When will he report?" etc.

 

It was a plague.

 

Can you imagine that same thing playing out if they just "bench" AB or if they do not trade him and he refuses to play? It would be a disaster for them all over again.

 

AB is going to come out of this looking like a jerk, but you can argue he is playing it smart.

 

He is dictating where he goes by refusing to report to a team he does not like if traded there and by saying he wants a big new deal wherever he goes.

 

Since he has 3 years left on his current deal, you can almost guarantee that he wants at least 3 years when he re-negotiates w whatever the new team would be. 3 years and around $57M or so would probably be the minimum he would take.

 

What team in their right mind would give up a first round pick AND that kind of contract? There is no way.

 

Part of the value/appeal of trading for AB despite his recent shenanigans is that his production is still elite and he has one hell of a contract. You would get him for around 3 years and $39M or so.

 

So with Brown getting * about his contract and now wanting yet another new deal, you take one of the biggest perks away.

 

Before you had:

 

Pro:

 

Production

Contract

 

Con:

 

Drama

Early Pick

 

Now you have only his production as a Pro and all his potential drama, the cost of the pick in a trade and the cost of a new contract all stacked against him.

 

If a team has to take on his potential baggage and pay him handsomely, there is no way you give up any premium pick for him. You just can't.

 

So something here will have to give.

 

I can see Pitt blinking first before AB unless he is willing to take a page out of his buddy Bell's book and start sitting out games to force their hand.

 

Ugly.

[ColtsBlueFL]

20 hours ago, Chloe6124 said:

Because all he has to do is say he isn’t going to show up and the deal won’t happen. No team is going to finalize a deal until they know he will show up. The Steelers actually have no leverage in this situation.

 

They can decide not to trade him, keep him, pay his upcoming 2.5 million bonus, then start fining the hell out of him (and get the money back) when he no shows for mini and training camps... 

 

Each game he no shows for is non-payable too.

 

(but I doubted they would, felt they'd get some trade done).

[TomDiggs]

And there it is!

 

Traded to the Raiders for a 3rd and 5th Rounder. Got $50M over three years instead of the $57M I predicted just earlier.

 

I guess good for the Raiders.

 

They did not want to pay Amari Cooper. They take the money they would have used for Cooper and they get Brown.

 

Then they get a 1st for a 3rd and 5th.

 

Cooper 3 and 5 for Brown and a 1 is just killer.

[buffalo34]

While I think this is a good deal for the Raiders, am I the only one who thinks Brown will just completely flame out on that team? The Raiders are normally a team where superstars go to have their careers die a horrible death.

 

Also, it's the Raiders. Sure, they have a ton of first round picks, but I'd think the odds are better than that they botch those too.

[Chrisaaron1023]

What a mess.. good on ya AB. Will you actually play football now and stop tweeting crap? Goodness. "I don't neeeeed football, look how much money I have in the bank" blah blah. 

 

Hope you got everything your little heart desires sir

[ColtsBlueFL]

9 hours ago, buffalo34 said:

While I think this is a good deal for the Raiders, am I the only one who thinks Brown will just completely flame out on that team? The Raiders are normally a team where superstars go to have their careers die a horrible death.

 

AB could inflate Carr's #'s and potential trade value.  Watch Gruden take a QB to groom within the next year or two, and deal Carr if he becomes a hot commodity again.

 

Quote

Also, it's the Raiders. Sure, they have a ton of first round picks, but I'd think the odds are better than that they botch those too.

 

I think Gruden trades down with most (all) of them and gets massive amounts of mid round picks to fill out his new look Raiders.  Even if they do not, remember they have Mike Mayock (instead of McKenzie)  joining Jon Gruden in the film/evaluation process.

 

Mayock's job has changed now. Instead of evaluating all prospects and to which teams they may fit/go, he is only interested in helping find "Raiders", players that fit Jon's vision/scheme/team.