AB heading to Oakland

[Legacy User]

The deal can't be officially consummated until the start of the new league year, which I believe is March 13th at 4pm Eastern.

It would be funny as hell if we backed out of the deal on tuesday

[COR-TEN]

Let's see how these picks pan out and how AB reacts to playing with an inferior QB.

Thing about mr toe tap... that ball is another 2 or 3 inches more toward the sideline and he aint catching shit.


What's going to happen in that locker room if AB is somewhere in the middle of the pack in terms of wide receivers in this league.

This. He's not going to be able to recreate the dynamism and communication with carr as with BR. But I don't think he cares. He's so full of himself that he thinks he'll be able to take the raiders to a championship.

If only they would listen to him. Feed him the ball, and ask him to be OC.

But I'm guessing the raiders isn't going to be his final team. Does anybody know if there is a clause in the contract that precludes him from re-negotiating another trade?

[Steeldrama]

Mike Garafolo
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@MikeGarafolo
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Antonio Brown's agent Drew Rosenhaus says on @nflnetwork he received permission to speak to the #Raiders about 48 hours ago. Also playfully asks us to take Mike Mayock back because he drove a hard bargain. Says he was "sharp."

Throwing shade at EMR/KC on the way out the door.

Nice.

Even Rosenhaus thinks it’s funny Colbert got fleeced by a former network draft analyst

[Lynch]

No Brown and Bell.

3rd, 5th, and $21M cap hit.

What's next? Tomlin extension?

Disgusting thought

But w Rooney’s, Rooney Rule, no losing seasons....looking like he coaches until he doesn’t want to

I would have shitcanned him immediately after ANOTHER loss to Oak this season

“Sorry Mike, the Rooney’s have asked you to get your own ticket back to Pittsburgh, I can’t let you on this plane.”

I woulda shitcanned after the Tebow incident. If not then, then definitely after the lacrosse raping.

[955876]

The Steelers violated EVERY FCKIN rule of Negotiating 101 from the outset.

Their dumbass moronic owner basically said Brown HAD to go. They set arbitrary dumb deadlines just so they could be done with this. They allowed the market to know their desperation. There wasn't one team of the 31 that BELIEVED the Steelers might RETAIN Brown.

Because of that, they dropped their offers. The Steelers did nothing to generate a bidding war. Sure, Brown's tantrums did not help. I admit that. But, this was a clusterfck of a negotiation.

Colbert treated AB like some old stereo that you are desperate to get rid of on Craigslist. A 3rd and 5th is a DEBACLE of a return. No sugarcoating it.

This...

And it’s why I knew from the get go we weren’t getting anything good for him.

Deuce needed to be prepared to pay that roster bonus and drag this to draft day if need be.

Deuce needed to float language that it will be a deal that favors the Steelers that moves AB. There will be no give away.

All along Deuce could have known privately that his ass was only going to net a 3 & 5 but by setting that asinine deadline he eliminated any bidding war.

This team is so damn rigid in how they do everything that they do. Oh noes. Can’t have AB drama going into free agency. Oh noes. Can’t have AB drama going into the draft. Oh noes we might have to pay him another $2.5 m.

As much as you don’t want to write that check, your writing it not so much to AB but to let other teams know you are willinto keep him if the offers are not good.

It’s called a bluff. People risk money in poker on bad hands all the time to fake out their opponent.

Deuce tells the world this needs be wrapped up by weekend and that be that.

Why would anyone pony up under those circumstances? Guarantee the price went down on that news.

[Legacy User]

The deal can't be officially consummated until the start of the new league year, which I believe is March 13th at 4pm Eastern.

I would love it if we pulled the rug out from under AB's feet and came out and said we changed our minds and then just let him rot on the bench. I know it doesn't do us any good, I guess I'm just bitter AB straight up strong-armed us to get more money. All his talk about winning and respect was nothing but smoke and mirrors. His objective has been money all along.

[Steeldrama]

The Steelers violated EVERY FCKIN rule of Negotiating 101 from the outset.

Their dumbass moronic owner basically said Brown HAD to go. They set arbitrary dumb deadlines just so they could be done with this. They allowed the market to know their desperation. There wasn't one team of the 31 that BELIEVED the Steelers might RETAIN Brown.

Because of that, they dropped their offers. The Steelers did nothing to generate a bidding war. Sure, Brown's tantrums did not help. I admit that. But, this was a clusterfck of a negotiation.

Colbert treated AB like some old stereo that you are desperate to get rid of on Craigslist. A 3rd and 5th is a DEBACLE of a return. No sugarcoating it.

This...

And it’s why I knew from the get go we weren’t getting anything good for him.

Deuce needed to be prepared to pay that roster bonus and drag this to draft day if need be.

Deuce needed to float language that it will be a deal that favors the Steelers that moves AB. There will be no give away.

All along Deuce could have known privately that his ass was only going to net a 3 & 5 but by setting that asinine deadline he eliminated any bidding war.

This team is so damn rigid in how they do everything that they do. Oh noes. Can’t have AB drama going into free agency. Oh noes. Can’t have AB drama going into the draft. Oh noes we might have to pay him another $2.5 m.

As much as you don’t want to write that check, your writing it not so much to AB but to let other teams know you are willinto keep him if the offers are not good.

It’s called a bluff. People risk money in poker on bad hands all the time to fake out their opponent.

Deuce tells the world this needs be wrapped up by weekend and that be that.

Why would anyone pony up under those circumstances? Guarantee the price went down on that news.

2 posts I agree with
Would love to see Art2 and Colbert sitting down to play some poker out in Vegas
I’d be knocking over old ladies and wheelchairs to get a seat at that table

[jewelsongs]

The signing bonus is still misunderstood. The Steelers did not have to pay it if they traded him after next week. The bonus is paid in weekly increments as part of his normal game check. So keeping him until a month from now would not cost the Steelers an extra dime. What is would do is add to his dead money, and hurt our salary cap for 2019. So Rooney was not being cheap, it wouldn't have cost him any money. The Steelers were being smart, to conserve cap room to sign other players or free agents. I am anxious to see where they spend their money. If they do a normal Steelers free agency, I will be disappointed. If they sign a decent CB or three down ILB, I will be happy.

[swissvale72]

Led by the Fuckin' Idiot TB, alot of rationalizing based on wild speculative bullshit, like...

*AB's gonna be broke in a few years....

*AB's gonna be in the poor house, the psych ward, the Big House, or a combo of all three....

*Ben's gonna have a chip on his shoulder, so watch out...

*Steelers will draft great, have great FA pickups...

As far as what's gonna happen to AB, who the fuck really cares now?? He's not ours anymore. Schadenfreude, of which I've long been a practitioner, isn't bringing any championships to Pittsburgh.

And...I'll say it again. December 1, 2017, the Pittsburgh Steelers had arguably the league's best running back, the league's best wide receiver, one of the league's best two or three inside linebackers. Now, we have none of those guys.

What we DO have is the same dumbfuck coach, the same dumberfuck owner. You asshats can be brimming with optimism all you want for the team that enters 2019 minus these three superstars, but keeping the same stupid fucks that comprise the braintrust. I hope the fuck you're right. I don't think you are, though.

[LakecrestSteeler]

I've asked many times, but I see more bedwetting here, so I'll ask again.

What did you expect the Steelers to do? Holding on to him and making him sit after he burned so many locker room bridges was never a tenable situation or realistic possibility. It's a business and spite doesn't help you win, especially when he's burned bridges with the other most important players on the team and the coaching staff.

So short of that, and with AB blowing up trades to destinations he didn't want to go, what did you want?

Frankly, I'm surprised they got what they did.

Paid him more to begin with. Anyone with eyes saw that he was the MJ of wide receivers. I would have given him more guaranteed money and maybe put something in his contract to auto-adjust to ensure he was highest paid until he was 33-34 years old.

[COR-TEN]

Led by the Fuckin' Idiot TB, alot of rationalizing based on wild speculative bullshit, like...

*AB's gonna be broke in a few years....

*AB's gonna be in the poor house, the psych ward, the Big House, or a combo of all three....

*Ben's gonna have a chip on his shoulder, so watch out...

*Steelers will draft great, have great FA pickups...

As far as what's gonna happen to AB, who the fuck really cares now?? He's not ours anymore. Schadenfreude, of which I've long been a practitioner, isn't bringing any championships to Pittsburgh.

And...I'll say it again. December 1, 2017, the Pittsburgh Steelers had arguably the league's best running back, the league's best wide receiver, one of the league's best two or three inside linebackers. Now, we have none of those guys.

What we DO have is the same dumbfuck coach, the same dumberfuck owner. You asshats can be brimming with optimism all you want for the team that enters 2019 minus these three superstars, but keeping the same stupid fucks that comprise the braintrust. I hope the fuck you're right. I don't think you are, though.

Will it be safe to say you'll bring these posts up and eat crow if the steelers go 11-5, win the division?

What if Washington and Conner have spectacular years, but miss the playoffs? Would that be OK? And I'd leave shazier out of that convo. He is loyal as hell to the steelers. Even before the injury. Those other two guys are dickheads. Shazier was a model team mate and exceptional player.

[Kodiak]

It’s called a bluff. People risk money in poker on bad hands all the time to fake out their opponent.

There's no one to fake out. Everyone who was interested in taking on AB threw their hat in the ring. It was basically an auction, and this is what the market was willing to pay.

Colbert got the best deal he was going to get. He may have done a little better waiting, but ultimately they prioritized picks in this years draft over trying to squeeze a little more out of the deal.

[bradshaw2ben]

Led by the Fuckin' Idiot TB, alot of rationalizing based on wild speculative bullshit, like...

*AB's gonna be broke in a few years....

*AB's gonna be in the poor house, the psych ward, the Big House, or a combo of all three....

*Ben's gonna have a chip on his shoulder, so watch out...

*Steelers will draft great, have great FA pickups...

As far as what's gonna happen to AB, who the fuck really cares now?? He's not ours anymore. Schadenfreude, of which I've long been a practitioner, isn't bringing any championships to Pittsburgh.

And...I'll say it again. December 1, 2017, the Pittsburgh Steelers had arguably the league's best running back, the league's best wide receiver, one of the league's best two or three inside linebackers. Now, we have none of those guys.

What we DO have is the same dumbfuck coach, the same dumberfuck owner. You asshats can be brimming with optimism all you want for the team that enters 2019 minus these three superstars, but keeping the same stupid fucks that comprise the braintrust. I hope the fuck you're right. I don't think you are, though.

Will it be safe to say you'll bring these posts up and eat crow if the steelers go 11-5, win the division?

What if Washington and Conner have spectacular years, but miss the playoffs? Would that be OK? And I'd leave shazier out of that convo. He is loyal as hell to the steelers. Even before the injury. Those other two guys are dickheads. Shazier was a model team mate and exceptional player.

The NE Patriots went from 10-6 with Moss to 14-2 without.

[Stallworth16]

So the Steelers only leverage in this would have been to not trade AB or wait for a better deal. Or keep AB on the team and have a new Lev Bell situation.

Things seem incredibly shitty right now and that 21 million dead money is a dark cloud.

So one of two things will happen next season, The Steelers will suck or they won’t suck. Everyone expects the Steelers to suck. So as a Steelers fan I hope they don’t suck and surprise people. But they will have to replace AB’s production somehow. You never know how the actual season will go down. Either way It’s going to be fine because if the Steelers have a losing record, Tomlin will probably get fired and that’s what a large portion of the fanbase wants.

What’s the over/under on Steelers record next season, 9-7 would be my guess. Or 8-8 if things look bleak after the draft.

[bradshaw2ben]

Steelers will win more games in 2019 than they did in 2018.

A little better FG kicking and a little better fixing the holes on D, spread the ball around on O--let Ben play point guard with a 3 RB rotation. Become NE style offense.

[swissvale72]

Led by the Fuckin' Idiot TB, alot of rationalizing based on wild speculative bullshit, like...

*AB's gonna be broke in a few years....

*AB's gonna be in the poor house, the psych ward, the Big House, or a combo of all three....

*Ben's gonna have a chip on his shoulder, so watch out...

*Steelers will draft great, have great FA pickups...

As far as what's gonna happen to AB, who the fuck really cares now?? He's not ours anymore. Schadenfreude, of which I've long been a practitioner, isn't bringing any championships to Pittsburgh.

And...I'll say it again. December 1, 2017, the Pittsburgh Steelers had arguably the league's best running back, the league's best wide receiver, one of the league's best two or three inside linebackers. Now, we have none of those guys.

What we DO have is the same dumbfuck coach, the same dumberfuck owner. You asshats can be brimming with optimism all you want for the team that enters 2019 minus these three superstars, but keeping the same stupid fucks that comprise the braintrust. I hope the fuck you're right. I don't think you are, though.

Will it be safe to say you'll bring these posts up and eat crow if the steelers go 11-5, win the division?

What if Washington and Conner have spectacular years, but miss the playoffs? Would that be OK? And I'd leave shazier out of that convo. He is loyal as hell to the steelers. Even before the injury. Those other two guys are dickheads. Shazier was a model team mate and exceptional player.

Steelers win the Super Bowl and I'll eat all the crow you want, all fuckin' year and beyond. Nope, if Steelers go 11-5, win the North, and Mike Tomlin pulls some 3rd & fuckin' 6 bullshit in the playoffs, then I'm not eating shit.

Here's why I'm not leaving Shazier out of the convo though. It's because of all this faux optimism that's emanating from this esteemed website today when we're down three of the game's best players, but stick with a Shit for Brains tandem of coach/owner. And I guess we should make it a trio and throw Colbert in there as well.

[LakecrestSteeler]

Please don’t let this be the Barry Bonds trade!

[swissvale72]

Led by the Fuckin' Idiot TB, alot of rationalizing based on wild speculative bullshit, like...

*AB's gonna be broke in a few years....

*AB's gonna be in the poor house, the psych ward, the Big House, or a combo of all three....

*Ben's gonna have a chip on his shoulder, so watch out...

*Steelers will draft great, have great FA pickups...

As far as what's gonna happen to AB, who the fuck really cares now?? He's not ours anymore. Schadenfreude, of which I've long been a practitioner, isn't bringing any championships to Pittsburgh.

And...I'll say it again. December 1, 2017, the Pittsburgh Steelers had arguably the league's best running back, the league's best wide receiver, one of the league's best two or three inside linebackers. Now, we have none of those guys.

What we DO have is the same dumbfuck coach, the same dumberfuck owner. You asshats can be brimming with optimism all you want for the team that enters 2019 minus these three superstars, but keeping the same stupid fucks that comprise the braintrust. I hope the fuck you're right. I don't think you are, though.

Will it be safe to say you'll bring these posts up and eat crow if the steelers go 11-5, win the division?

What if Washington and Conner have spectacular years, but miss the playoffs? Would that be OK? And I'd leave shazier out of that convo. He is loyal as hell to the steelers. Even before the injury. Those other two guys are dickheads. Shazier was a model team mate and exceptional player.

The NE Patriots went from 10-6 with Moss to 14-2 without.

Patriots are also coached by Bill Belichick....if you've not noticed.

[Stallworth16]

Steelers will win more games in 2019 than they did in 2018.

A little better FG kicking and a little better fixing the holes on D, spread the ball around on O--let Ben play point guard with a 3 RB rotation. Become NE style offense.

If the Steelers could manage to be a decent playoff team, and AB doesn’t live up to being the highest paid player, and the Raiders suck, that would go a long way to making things better.

But who knows what will actually happen.

[jewelsongs]

Steelers will win more games in 2019 than they did in 2018.

A little better FG kicking and a little better fixing the holes on D, spread the ball around on O--let Ben play point guard with a 3 RB rotation. Become NE style offense.

If the Steelers could manage to be a decent playoff team, and AB doesn’t live up to being the highest paid player, and the Raiders suck, that would go a long way to making things better.

But who knows what will actually happen.

AB will show up to Raiders training camp in a Silver and Gold Rolls Royce. It will get stolen in the parking lot.

[Kodiak]

Please don’t let this be the Barry Bonds trade!

I don't think that's happening....

I see AB going full TO after just half a year with his new team. Carr is good, but he's not Ben or the Steeler offense. AB is going to see less targets, and less catchable balls when it does come his way.

Won't come close to leading the league in yards, TD's or receptions....and that's going to make AB one very unhappy camper.

And he may be in for a rude awakening with Gruden. Gruden isn't going to tolerate half the bullshit Tomlin ignored.

[COR-TEN]

I also believe the steelers will be better.

Either one of two things. Opponents will be wondering who to cover. There is no outright - shut his ass down - player.
Or they will breath a sigh of relief. I doubt this, because that's pretty much the game plan against the steelers. Even BB said it. Shut down AB and make the rest of the team beat you.

I think that's exactly what they are going to do. The rest of the team will beat you, and you'll have no focus point other than BR. And we all know he can beat you in more ways than one. Add some playmakers like McDonald and JuJu. . .

I'm kinda optimistic, actually. I wanted a mid to late round 1, but fuck it. The asshole is gone.

And I'll agree with the sentiment that if tomlin shut his and bells ass down years ago, the steelers would probably be under .500 the last three seasons. Or the bell brown idiocy would have been resolved years ago. Meaning they wouldn't have been a steeler. . .

[Orangesteel]

Steelers will win more games in 2019 than they did in 2018.

A little better FG kicking and a little better fixing the holes on D, spread the ball around on O--let Ben play point guard with a 3 RB rotation. Become NE style offense.

I agree with this, but in order to do so I would try to figure out a way to keep Tomlin out of any decision making or planning.

This why I was so pissed that Munchak left. He seemed to be the only real intelligence on the sideline (perhaps other than Fitchner).

Butler and Tomlin need to completely change it they need to go.

[Kodiak]

Tomlin was an enabler. Rather than address the unacceptable behavior, he chose to ignore it. He didn't hold anything together - he sat on this thumb until things fell apart. That requires no effort or skill.

Some of us were criticizing that approach years ago. Others defended it, said it wasn't Tomlin's job to be a babysitter. Not Tomlin's job to provide leadership. Not Tomlin's job to build chemistry on the team.

Well, "not Tomlin's job" really came home to roost with Bell and AB. Somewhere, Ryan Clark is laughing his ass off right now.

[955876]

It’s called a bluff. People risk money in poker on bad hands all the time to fake out their opponent.

There's no one to fake out. Everyone who was interested in taking on AB threw their hat in the ring. It was basically an auction, and this is what the market was willing to pay.

Colbert got the best deal he was going to get. He may have done a little better waiting, but ultimately they prioritized picks in this years draft over trying to squeeze a little more out of the deal.

This is what the market was willing to pay this weekend.

Unknown what would have happened after the start of FA and as the draft approached.

I agree with much of what you’ve been saying here. Just personally think we fucked up the negotiation with our own self imposed restrictions.

Some team would have at the least ponies up a 2. Especially come draft day.

Simply a case of us blinking first.

The “standard” and all...

[Stallworth16]

I will admit that I love having an extra 3rd and 5th but that doesn’t mean the Steelers got fair value because they didn’t, obviously.

Its because I have a thing for any pick 3rd or lower picks that pan out. And I love having extras. I like the underdog that becomes a great player, like AB did before he went AWOL, and became Darth Vader.

[Alibe]

A very unsettling part of this deal is the conspiracy of AB and his agent and maybe the Raiders,to intentional destroy AB’s trade value by his antics so that the team he went to could get a bargain but be able to pay the extra cash to AB. Wink, wink. That seems to me, illegal and manipulative and violates the CBA. The extra cash should go to the Steelers, not AB, to help compensate the Steelers for their cap hit. I think the Raiders have entered into this tainted agreement knowingly.......a conspiracy of sorts to defraud the Steelers. Of coarse the Steelers were too dumb to see this. I think this deal should be nullified by the league and both AB and the Raiders punished!

[bradshaw2ben]

Tomlin was an enabler. Rather than address the unacceptable behavior, he chose to ignore it. He didn't hold anything together - he sat on this thumb until things fell apart. That requires no effort or skill.

Some of us were criticizing that approach years ago. Others defended it, said it wasn't Tomlin's job to be a babysitter. Not Tomlin's job to provide leadership. Not Tomlin's job to build chemistry on the team.

Well, "not Tomlin's job" really came home to roost with Bell and AB. Somewhere, Ryan Clark is laughing his ass off right now.

It's like having superstar diva actors in your movie.

If you have superstars, you get the money to make the film, you keep everyone employed, and they definitely get enabled in their bad behavior. That bad behavior that wouldn't be okay if lesser employees did it is tolerated right up until they keep you from making the movie and their bullshit gets to be too much to bear. The inmates, at some level, do have to be coddled if you're going to have an NFL team. Even the Pats coddled Brady & Gronk and Moss for a time an so on. They definitely steered clear of or got rid of ASAP these kinds of players, but it's generally impossible to avoid, especially when you're picking late in each round every year.

[Havoc]

It’s called a bluff. People risk money in poker on bad hands all the time to fake out their opponent.

There's no one to fake out. Everyone who was interested in taking on AB threw their hat in the ring. It was basically an auction, and this is what the market was willing to pay.

Colbert got the best deal he was going to get. He may have done a little better waiting, but ultimately they prioritized picks in this years draft over trying to squeeze a little more out of the deal.

Yes it was an auction.

Yes, they could have waited past the draft and maybe got more, but then you don't get the extra pick(s) to use in this draft while dragging the team thru more mud.

There wasn't much of a market for AB and I'm not surprised.

The auction winner is the same franchise that didn't do their homework on Martavis Bryant.

Look at the list of teams circulated as showing interest... garbage teams and or garbage franchises. Where were all the contending teams, or teams on the cusp of contending?

On the Saints...

The Saints were wise to stay away from the Antonio Brown soap opera

Someone will be stupid, but be thankful that it wasn't the Saints.

Once again, New Orleans Saints coach Sean Payton and general manager Mickey Loomis prove how smart they are. This time, they show their intelligence by staying away from the dysfunctional drama that surrounds Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver Antonio Brown. Despite rumors to the contrary, there is nothing to indicate that the Saints were ever a serious trade candidate for the talented but self-absorbed wideout.

https://www.canalstreetchronicles.com/2019/3/9/18254849/the-saints-were-wise-to-stay-away-from-the-antonio-brown-soap-opera

[Kodiak]

If you have superstars, you get the money to make the film, you keep everyone employed, and they definitely get enabled in their bad behavior.

It's much worse than that. Tomlin doesn't know how to handle these guys - doing nothing is simply lazy and incompetent. You're making excuses for him, again - "there's nothing you can do but coddle them". No, you still set boundaries. Tomlin had none.

And it's not just been Bell and AB, you've had Mitchell, Harrison and others. There's a long and clear pattern that Tomlin isn't up to the task.


But it's going to be great fun watching Tomlin fail at trying to be that guy next year.