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Could The Steelers Consider Trading Antonio Brown?

Ryan Mayer

Steelers wide receiver Antonio Brown has been the center of media attention over the course of the last two weeks for largely the wrong reasons. First, it was Brown's live streaming of coach Mike Tomlin's post-game locker room speech that got the receiver publicly chastised by his coach and quarterback along with being fined prior to the team's game against the Patriots last weekend.

Today, a report from NFL Network's Aditi Kinkhabwala states that there are some within the organization that believe Brown cares too much about his own stats. Kinkhabwala stated during her report that Brown was "pouting" following DeAngelo Williams' touchdown:

"I was sitting with Hines Ward ... we were sitting next to each other last night, DeAngelo Williams scores the Steelers first touchdown. Antonio Brown was wide open in the back of the end zone and he pouted. Guys, he pouted! His team just scored a touchdown and he was upset that he was wide open and Roethlisberger didn't go to him. Roethlisberger was then waiting on the sideline, Brown was the last player off the field. Roethlisberger had to talk to him.

According to Pro Football Talk's Mike Florio, all of these reports and public rebukes of Brown lead to one conclusion: the team potentially trading the star wide receiver. Drawing on Tomlin's words in his press conference following the locker room incident, Florio hypothesizes that the team should at least see what other teams have to offer for Brown. From Florio's post:

"Brown has one year left on a contract that he has outperformed. After the Steelers slid money from 2016 to 2015 and from 2017 to 2016, Brown now expects a market-value deal.

Before the Steelers consider that, why not see whether another team makes a call? Six years ago, the Steelers unloaded Super Bowl XLIII MVP Santonio Holmes after the league imposed a four-game suspension under the substance-abuse policy. While Brown has gotten in no trouble away from the field, the Facebook Live incident coupled with team-leaked concerns about Brown's willingness to put personal goals behind team goals could be enough to prompt the team to give the tree a mild shake and see what happens."

Now, this all needs to be taken with a grain of salt. This largely seems to be the musings of Florio based on the recent issues surrounding the wide receiver. There's no concrete evidence or report that states that they have listened to offers.

It would be hard for the team to let go of Brown considering he has recorded the most receptions in the league over the last four seasons with 481 totaling 6,315 yards and 43 touchdowns in that span. What do you think? Is Brown worth some of the off-field headaches and on-field pouting?

 

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