The Steelers did not want Antonio Brown in the Patriots, which makes it more fun

In March, before the Antonio Brown saga involved feet and a helmet, it was a relatively classic conflict between an unhappy player riding an elliptical and demanding an exchange from his team. The Steelers had no desire to keep him, but they still thought enough of him not to want a good team to have him. After a false start with the Bills, they thought they had found a solution by sending it to the Raiders.

This solution was only temporary. Brown's relationship with his new team, especially General Manager Mike Mayock, deteriorated rapidly over the summer. When he no longer has any financial security, he asked yesterday to be cut, which the Raiders have done quickly. A few hours later, he signed a one-year contract with the Patriots for a signing bonus of $ 9 million. Brown would be a perennial playoff team at the Pittsburgh conference. Oops.

As reported in a column by Charles Robinson of Yahoo Sports on Saturday night, the Steelers knew in March that the Patriots wanted Brown, but they would not meet the wishes of their rivals, even if it meant to settle for a commercial return dismal. From Robinson:

According to a familiar source of New England's interest in Brown last spring, including the Steelers-Patriots talks, it was all right to say that Pittsburgh did not want Brown in New England. The Steelers knew they would likely face the Patriots in the 2019 playoffs. Beyond that, there were already bitter feelings about the competition between the two teams (not to mention the LeGarrette Blount fiasco in 2014). To send Brown into the arms of the Patriots and Bill Belichick would not only cost Pittsburgh's chances of participating in the playoffs, but would be humiliating. Especially if the agreement was not profitable. That would mean that we would brandish the white flag to all parties the Steelers simply did not want to surrender. From Brown to Bill Belichick to Tom Brady.

"Pittsburgh was just not going to do it," said a familiar source with Brown's pursuit by the Patriots. "It was never going to happen, no matter what [agent Drew Rosenhaus] Thought or whoever else, there was no way that the Steelers would send him to New England. "

Pittsburgh did not do it, but it happened anyway. Thus, in the final scoring, the Steelers found themselves with a third-round pick, a fifth-round pick and the hope that rookie receiver Diontae Johnson will eventually make AB forget; the Raiders ended up with nothing; and the Patriots found themselves with one of the NFL's top receivers on a ridiculously friendly contract against a team against Josh Gordon. What did we all learn from this fiasco? It's not clear, but to quote J.K. The Simmons character in Burn after reading"I guess we learned not to do it anymore."

[Yahoo Sports]